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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. mug — a face
  3. mug — to rob
  4. band — a ring
  5. clip — for paper
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. race — the arms race
  8. present — a gift
  9. clip — a video
  10. club — for golf
  11. band — a music group
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. race — a contest
  15. cold — an illness
  16. present — there
  17. present — the time now
  18. club — for dancing
  19. cold — not warm
  20. race — humankind
  21. season — of the year
  22. mug — a cup
  23. club — a group
  24. clip — to cut

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