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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bear · clip · mine · date · chest · ball · wind · season

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. chest — of your body
  3. clip — to cut
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. chest — of your body
  7. clip — for paper
  8. bear — the animal
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. season — in sport
  11. clip — a video
  12. bear — the animal
  13. date — the fruit
  14. season — of the year
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. mine — for digging
  20. ball — a great time
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. chest — a box
  23. wind — moving air
  24. ball — a dance

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