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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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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: wind · clip · race · march · racket · hide · present · season

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. wind — moving air
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. present — there
  5. season — in sport
  6. present — the time now
  7. season — of the year
  8. march — music
  9. race — the arms race
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. clip — a video
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. march — the month
  15. clip — for paper
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. march — the month
  18. race — a contest
  19. clip — to cut
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. wind — moving air
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. race — humankind
  24. hide — to keep secret

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