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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. clip — for paper
  3. season — of the year
  4. file — a document
  5. file — a line of people
  6. drill — a practice
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. season — in sport
  9. face — to confront
  10. shower — rain
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. face — part of the head
  13. drill — the tool
  14. craft — a skill
  15. file — a tool
  16. craft — boats
  17. shower — to wash
  18. bass — low music
  19. clip — a video
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bass — the fish
  22. face — to point toward
  23. craft — a handicraft
  24. drill — army training

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