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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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. clip — a video
  5. pound — a weight
  6. squash — the sport
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. lie — to recline
  10. cold — an illness
  11. track — a song
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. tube — the underground
  15. tube — a container
  16. track — a path
  17. track — to keep track
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — for paper
  24. squash — to crush

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