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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 · bat · bound · season · squash · face · rock · cabinet

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. face — to confront
  3. season — in sport
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. face — to point toward
  7. bound — certain
  8. season — of the year
  9. bound — obliged
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. squash — the sport
  12. bat — the animal
  13. clip — a video
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. clip — for paper
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. clip — to cut
  19. face — part of the head
  20. bound — tied together
  21. squash — to crush
  22. rock — a stone
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cabinet — ministers

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