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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: season · content · perch · clip · race · ball · rest · mark

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. season — of the year
  3. race — a contest
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. content — the amount
  7. perch — the fish
  8. ball — a great time
  9. clip — for paper
  10. mark — a grade
  11. race — the arms race
  12. rest — what's left
  13. rest — a break
  14. race — humankind
  15. season — in sport
  16. clip — a video
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. mark — a trace
  19. content — happy
  20. rest — what's left
  21. clip — to cut
  22. ball — a dance
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. content — videos and posts

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