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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 120 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: row · bay · net · kid · craft · season · march · clip

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. My mare is ________________ in color.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — to cut
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. bay — a part of the sea
  7. clip — for paper
  8. season — in sport
  9. march — the month
  10. march — the month
  11. craft — boats
  12. net — for catching
  13. net — in sport
  14. bay — a horse colour
  15. craft — a skill
  16. net — after costs
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. season — of the year
  19. march — music
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — child
  22. row — to paddle
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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