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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. object — to protest
  3. march — the month
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. season — in sport
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. season — of the year
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. shower — rain
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. fine — high quality
  12. clip — for paper
  13. march — the month
  14. shower — to wash
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. object — a thing
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. stem — to come from
  19. clip — a video
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. clip — to cut
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. object — an aim
  24. march — music

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