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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. cold — not warm
  3. object — an aim
  4. race — a contest
  5. race — the arms race
  6. bulb — for light
  7. bulb — for light
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. clip — a video
  10. object — a thing
  11. wound — an injury
  12. cold — an illness
  13. content — the amount
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. content — happy
  19. pit — in a race
  20. race — humankind
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. wound — an injury
  24. object — to protest

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