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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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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: present · scale · last · clip · swing · season · root · net

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. swing — to play on
  3. scale — in music
  4. root — of a plant
  5. clip — to cut
  6. scale — size or range
  7. present — the time now
  8. present — there
  9. net — for catching
  10. swing — in golf
  11. clip — a video
  12. last — finally
  13. swing — music
  14. present — a gift
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. last — final
  17. last — to go on
  18. root — the cause
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. root — of a word
  21. clip — for paper
  22. net — in sport
  23. season — in sport
  24. net — after costs

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