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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. season — of the year
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mate — a partner
  5. pop — music
  6. prune — to trim
  7. season — in sport
  8. clip — a video
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. prune — to trim
  11. ground — crushed
  12. pop — soda
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. current — happening now
  15. mate — a friend
  16. current — electric
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. current — of water
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pop — to visit
  21. mate — to breed
  22. ground — a position
  23. clip — for paper
  24. cold — not warm

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