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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 116 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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. bound — tied together
  4. clip — a video
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. clip — to cut
  7. rock — a stone
  8. season — in sport
  9. bound — obliged
  10. fine — high quality
  11. fine — all right
  12. track — a song
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. track — a path
  15. track — to keep track
  16. rock — music
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. bound — certain
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. file — a tool
  22. file — a line of people
  23. clip — for paper
  24. file — a document

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