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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — a video
  4. clip — for paper
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. toast — bread
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. band — a music group
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — the season
  11. track — to keep track
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. track — a song
  16. band — a ring
  17. chest — of your body
  18. track — a path
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. cold — an illness
  22. chest — a box
  23. cold — not warm
  24. chest — of your body

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