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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  15. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. track — a path
  3. clip — to cut
  4. shower — to wash
  5. shower — rain
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. track — to keep track
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. fall — to drop
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. clip — a video
  13. pound — a weight
  14. jam — to spread on bread
  15. wave — with your hand
  16. fall — the season
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. track — a song
  20. fall — to drop
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. clip — for paper
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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