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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. season — in sport
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. wind — moving air
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. wind — moving air
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — to cut
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. scale — size or range
  14. chip — for betting
  15. fork — in a road
  16. clip — a video
  17. scale — in music
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. branch — a division
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. chip — to eat

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