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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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Word bank
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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — to cut
  4. rest — what's left
  5. chest — a box
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. rest — what's left
  8. cold — not warm
  9. game — a match
  10. rest — a break
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. chest — of your body
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. vault — a safe
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. cold — an illness
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. clip — for paper
  19. game — wild animals
  20. chest — of your body
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — for digging

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