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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. wound — an injury
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. rush — hurry
  5. clip — to cut
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. season — in sport
  8. tear — from crying
  9. wound — an injury
  10. spring — a coil
  11. squash — the sport
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. spring — the season
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. tear — from crying
  18. clip — for paper
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. clip — a video
  21. spring — of water
  22. tear — to rip
  23. squash — to crush
  24. squash — the vegetable

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