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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: rock · squash · bound · tear · shower · net · clip · season

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. rock — music
  3. bound — certain
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. bound — obliged
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. season — of the year
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. tear — from crying
  11. net — after costs
  12. squash — to crush
  13. bound — tied together
  14. net — for catching
  15. clip — a video
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. rock — a stone
  18. clip — to cut
  19. tear — to rip
  20. tear — from crying
  21. squash — the sport
  22. shower — rain
  23. net — in sport
  24. clip — for paper

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