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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. land — ground
  3. clip — for paper
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cap — a hat
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. wake — a trail
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. plane — a tool
  11. track — a song
  12. land — a country
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. season — in sport
  15. clip — to cut
  16. cap — a lid
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. track — to keep track
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. season — of the year
  22. clip — a video
  23. land — to come down
  24. track — a path

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