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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. clip — to cut
  5. tear — from crying
  6. content — happy
  7. kid — to tease
  8. present — there
  9. content — the amount
  10. clip — a video
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. present — the time now
  13. tear — to rip
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. clip — for paper
  16. kid — child
  17. tear — from crying
  18. firm — a company
  19. firm — steady
  20. season — in sport
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. firm — decided
  24. present — a gift

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