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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. march — the month
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. sharp — clever
  7. cold — not warm
  8. stick — to attach or keep to
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. can — to be able to
  11. content — happy
  12. content — the amount
  13. clip — to cut
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. clip — for paper
  17. march — music
  18. can — a tin
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. march — the month
  21. clip — a video
  22. can — a tin
  23. cold — an illness
  24. sharp — with an edge

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