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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. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. cue — for pool
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. kid — child
  5. kid — to tease
  6. cue — a hint
  7. rash — hasty
  8. season — in sport
  9. file — a tool
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. band — a music group
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. band — a ring
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. file — a document
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. file — a line of people
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. rash — a series
  23. cue — a signal
  24. clip — for paper

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