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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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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: net · deal · bay · season · clip · stem · kid · row

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. My mare is ________________ in color.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. clip — a video
  3. kid — child
  4. bay — a horse colour
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. net — for catching
  7. kid — to tease
  8. clip — to cut
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. row — a line
  11. net — in sport
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. season — in sport
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. stem — to come from
  20. deal — to handle
  21. bay — a part of the sea
  22. clip — for paper
  23. row — to paddle
  24. net — after costs

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