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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. kick — in football
  3. clip — to cut
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. perch — the fish
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. clip — for paper
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. pass — a permit
  10. saw — the tool
  11. stem — to come from
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. clip — a video
  15. season — in sport
  16. saw — the tool
  17. degree — an amount
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. degree — from a university
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. degree — temperature
  24. stem — a stem cell

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