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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bat — the animal
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — a video
  13. staff — employees
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. rash — a series
  16. cold — not warm
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. staff — a stick
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. scale — size or range
  22. staff — employees
  23. clip — to cut
  24. rash — hasty

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