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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. cold — an illness
  3. clip — a video
  4. pop — music
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. cold — not warm
  7. clip — for paper
  8. fine — high quality
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. clip — to cut
  11. fine — all right
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. pop — to visit
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. pop — soda
  18. ruler — for measuring

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