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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — of the year
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. net — in sport
  7. net — for catching
  8. branch — a division
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. net — after costs
  11. clip — a video
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. row — a line
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. pitch — completely
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. deal — to handle
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. row — to paddle
  21. season — in sport
  22. clip — to cut
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. clip — for paper

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