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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: can · season · mine · clip · wind · key · bay · race

  1. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  2. This piece is in a major ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. race — a contest
  2. key — in music
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — to cut
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. wind — moving air
  8. race — the arms race
  9. race — humankind
  10. mine — for digging
  11. can — a tin
  12. key — the most important part
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. season — of the year
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. season — in sport
  18. clip — for paper
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. can — to be able to
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. key — for a lock
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. can — a tin

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