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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. My mare is ________________ in color.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. cap — a hat
  3. rash — hasty
  4. cap — a lid
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. track — to keep track
  7. chest — of your body
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bay — a horse colour
  11. cap — of ice
  12. wind — moving air
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. clip — a video
  16. wind — moving air
  17. chest — a box
  18. track — a song
  19. bay — to keep at bay
  20. plane — a tool
  21. clip — to cut
  22. track — a path
  23. rash — a series
  24. plane — an aircraft

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