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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: last · present · clip · wound · row · season · bass · fine

  1. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. clip — a video
  4. fine — high quality
  5. row — a line
  6. bass — low music
  7. fine — all right
  8. last — final
  9. season — in sport
  10. clip — for paper
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. present — the time now
  13. season — of the year
  14. wound — an injury
  15. present — a gift
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. last — finally
  18. last — to go on
  19. present — there
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bass — the fish
  22. wound — an injury
  23. row — to paddle
  24. season — to add flavour

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