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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. bound — obliged
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. march — the month
  5. cold — not warm
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — for paper
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bound — certain
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. pit — in a race
  12. pit — a hole
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. current — of water
  15. current — electric
  16. clip — a video
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. current — happening now
  20. cold — an illness
  21. march — the month
  22. bound — tied together
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. march — music

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