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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 120 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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. clip — for paper
  5. key — for a lock
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. bank — of a river
  8. key — the most important part
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. mine — for digging
  11. pitch — completely
  12. clip — a video
  13. bank — for money
  14. key — in music
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. net — in sport
  17. season — in sport
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. net — after costs
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. dip — to sink
  22. net — for catching
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bank — for money

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