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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 116 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: fall · field · saw · dip · clip · season · march · ground

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. march — the month
  3. field — farmland
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. march — the month
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — to drop
  8. ground — crushed
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. season — in sport
  11. ground — the earth
  12. saw — the tool
  13. field — for sport
  14. ground — a position
  15. dip — to sink
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — a video
  18. field — a subject
  19. clip — for paper
  20. fall — the season
  21. season — of the year
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. saw — the tool
  24. march — music

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