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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I've got to change the light ________________.
  10. The light ________________ burned out.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. rock — music
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. root — of a plant
  5. season — of the year
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. bulb — for light
  10. bulb — for light
  11. sharp — clever
  12. mug — a cup
  13. season — in sport
  14. game — wild animals
  15. clip — a video
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. mug — to rob
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. rock — a stone
  20. mug — a face
  21. clip — to cut
  22. root — the cause
  23. root — of a word
  24. game — a match

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