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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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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: season · ball · bank · rush · snap · wind · cell · clip

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. season — in sport
  3. wind — moving air
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — in biology
  6. rush — hurry
  7. wind — moving air
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. ball — a dance
  10. clip — a video
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. bank — for money
  13. bank — for money
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. ball — a great time
  16. bank — of a river
  17. snap — to click
  18. cell — a phone
  19. season — of the year
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — for paper
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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