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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. clip — to cut
  3. season — of the year
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. bank — of a river
  6. chest — of your body
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. charge — a price
  9. chest — of your body
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. capital — a city
  12. bank — for money
  13. clip — a video
  14. clip — for paper
  15. season — in sport
  16. foot — a measure
  17. charge — in control
  18. charge — electricity
  19. wax — to grow
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. bank — for money
  22. capital — money
  23. chest — a box
  24. foot — part of the body

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