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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pop — music
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. clip — a video
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. prune — to trim
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. clip — to cut
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. clip — for paper
  14. fine — all right
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. scale — in music
  17. pass — to spend time
  18. scale — size or range
  19. pass — a permit
  20. fine — high quality
  21. pop — soda
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pop — to visit

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