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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. last — finally
  3. rash — hasty
  4. court — of a king
  5. season — of the year
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. court — for sport
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. clip — a video
  10. ground — the earth
  11. clip — to cut
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. ground — crushed
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. last — final
  16. cell — a phone
  17. last — to go on
  18. court — of law
  19. cell — in biology
  20. ground — a position
  21. rash — a series
  22. wake — a trail
  23. clip — for paper
  24. season — in sport

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