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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. ground — the earth
  3. spell — a short time
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cold — an illness
  6. ground — a position
  7. spell — magic
  8. clip — to cut
  9. bulb — for light
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. spell — letters
  15. wound — an injury
  16. kid — child
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. pass — a permit
  20. clip — a video
  21. ground — crushed
  22. bulb — for light
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. kid — to tease

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