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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. clip — a video
  3. mate — a partner
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cap — a hat
  6. bound — certain
  7. mate — to breed
  8. game — wild animals
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. bound — tied together
  11. game — a match
  12. chest — a box
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chest — of your body
  17. mate — a friend
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. clip — to cut
  20. plane — a tool
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. cap — a lid
  23. date — the fruit
  24. bound — obliged

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