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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. season — in sport
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. mine — for digging
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. clip — a video
  7. game — wild animals
  8. charge — in control
  9. tube — a container
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. present — the time now
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. season — of the year
  15. present — a gift
  16. charge — a price
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. clip — to cut
  20. tube — the underground
  21. charge — electricity
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. game — a match
  24. present — there

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