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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 124 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. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. field — farmland
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. suit — clothes
  6. season — in sport
  7. scale — size or range
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. present — there
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. clip — a video
  12. scale — in music
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — to cut
  15. suit — in cards
  16. present — the time now
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. field — for sport
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — money
  21. field — a subject
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. present — a gift
  24. season — of the year

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