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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: clip · firm · sharp · season · cold · kick · bass · saw

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. season — of the year
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bass — low music
  6. firm — steady
  7. season — in sport
  8. firm — a company
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. clip — a video
  11. kick — in football
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. firm — decided
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bass — the fish
  18. saw — the tool
  19. saw — the tool
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. clip — to cut
  24. sharp — clever

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