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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 water is too ________________.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. face — part of the head
  3. pass — to spend time
  4. clip — for paper
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. mug — a cup
  7. roll — a list
  8. cold — an illness
  9. mug — to rob
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. clip — a video
  12. face — to point toward
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. clip — to cut
  15. pound — a weight
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. mug — a face
  18. face — to confront
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. pass — a permit
  21. cell — a phone
  22. cell — in biology
  23. roll — a cake
  24. roll — on a roll

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