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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: bat · wake · clip · spell · cold · lean · season · stick

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. wake — a trail
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. season — of the year
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. bat — the animal
  8. clip — to cut
  9. spell — letters
  10. lean — to bend
  11. spell — magic
  12. cold — not warm
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. cold — an illness
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — for paper
  20. lean — thin
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. spell — a short time
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. bat — in an idiom

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