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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. Is it ________________ for us to be here?

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. cold — not warm
  3. can — a tin
  4. clip — a video
  5. hand — help
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. cold — an illness
  10. capital — a city
  11. clip — for paper
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. wound — an injury
  14. capital — money
  15. can — to be able to
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. clip — to cut
  18. wound — an injury
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. hand — in cards
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. safe — out of danger

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