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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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. bear — the animal
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bound — obliged
  8. ground — a position
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. row — a line
  11. ground — the earth
  12. spell — magic
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bound — tied together
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. bound — certain
  17. cold — an illness
  18. spell — letters
  19. cold — not warm
  20. row — to paddle
  21. ground — crushed
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. spell — a short time
  24. coach — a trainer

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