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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. clip — for paper
  3. kid — to tease
  4. clip — a video
  5. season — of the year
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. last — finally
  8. clip — to cut
  9. last — to go on
  10. kid — child
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. pit — a hole
  16. sharp — clever
  17. wake — a trail
  18. pit — in a race
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. season — in sport
  23. last — final
  24. wake — before a funeral

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com