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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 116 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. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wound — an injury
  4. clip — a video
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. cold — not warm
  8. present — a gift
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. root — of a plant
  11. ground — crushed
  12. clip — for paper
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. ground — a position
  16. present — there
  17. root — of a word
  18. clip — to cut
  19. cold — an illness
  20. wound — an injury
  21. root — the cause
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. branch — a division
  24. ground — the earth

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