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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 120 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. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Take your time. There's no ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. clip — for paper
  4. scale — in music
  5. cold — an illness
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — to cut
  8. shower — to wash
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. cold — not warm
  11. scale — size or range
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. can — a tin
  15. bore — to tire
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. foot — a measure
  19. bore — to drill
  20. can — to be able to
  21. can — a tin
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. shower — rain
  24. rush — hurry

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