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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 120 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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. mate — to breed
  3. clip — for paper
  4. cue — a hint
  5. kid — child
  6. mate — a partner
  7. mate — a friend
  8. clip — to cut
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. cue — for pool
  12. clip — a video
  13. lean — to bend
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. craft — boats
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. season — in sport
  18. wax — to grow
  19. lean — thin
  20. cue — a signal
  21. kid — to tease
  22. craft — a skill
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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