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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — not warm
  3. clip — a video
  4. wind — moving air
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. kick — in football
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. wind — moving air
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. cap — a lid
  13. cap — of ice
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bear — the animal
  17. clip — for paper
  18. cold — an illness
  19. vault — a safe
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. cap — a hat
  24. clip — to cut

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