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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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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. can — a tin
  5. march — the month
  6. cold — an illness
  7. march — music
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — a video
  10. can — a tin
  11. squash — to crush
  12. march — the month
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. clip — to cut
  16. can — to be able to
  17. squash — the sport
  18. hide — to keep secret

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