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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: season · land · clip · arm · bay · cold · club · spell

  1. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a part of the sea
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. spell — a short time
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. club — for dancing
  7. land — to come down
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. land — a country
  10. spell — magic
  11. season — in sport
  12. clip — for paper
  13. cold — an illness
  14. clip — to cut
  15. cold — not warm
  16. spell — letters
  17. club — a group
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. club — for golf
  21. season — of the year
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. land — ground
  24. clip — a video

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