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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. clip — a video
  3. season — of the year
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. staff — employees
  6. mine — for digging
  7. spring — of water
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. season — in sport
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. scale — size or range
  12. band — a music group
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. clip — to cut
  15. spring — a coil
  16. lie — to recline
  17. spring — the season
  18. staff — a stick
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. clip — for paper
  24. scale — in music

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