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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. season — in sport
  5. mine — for digging
  6. current — happening now
  7. season — of the year
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. rest — what's left
  10. current — electric
  11. clip — for paper
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. lean — thin
  16. cold — an illness
  17. clip — to cut
  18. cold — not warm
  19. rest — what's left
  20. clip — a video
  21. rest — a break
  22. current — of water
  23. lean — to bend
  24. cold — the Cold War

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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