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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 · fall · game · clip · straw · key · rush · temple

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. season — of the year
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. rush — hurry
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. key — for a lock
  9. clip — for paper
  10. game — wild animals
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. key — the most important part
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. key — in music
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — the season
  18. fall — to drop
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. season — in sport
  23. clip — a video
  24. game — a match

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