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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. rest — what's left
  3. clip — a video
  4. last — final
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. last — to go on
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. clip — to cut
  10. last — finally
  11. cold — an illness
  12. row — to paddle
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. rest — what's left
  15. cold — not warm
  16. clip — for paper
  17. row — a line
  18. rest — a break
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. dip — to sink

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