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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 seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. present — a gift
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. present — the time now
  5. clip — for paper
  6. fine — high quality
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. clip — a video
  11. bound — obliged
  12. bound — certain
  13. cold — not warm
  14. season — of the year
  15. season — in sport
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. present — there
  18. bound — tied together
  19. fine — all right
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. capital — a city
  23. toast — bread
  24. toast — the most admired

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