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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: race · wave · mark · season · present · march · clip · bat

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. clip — to cut
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. season — in sport
  5. clip — a video
  6. mark — a trace
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. march — the month
  11. season — of the year
  12. race — humankind
  13. march — music
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. march — the month
  16. mark — a grade
  17. bat — the animal
  18. present — there
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. race — the arms race
  23. present — the time now
  24. present — a gift

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