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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. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. ball — a dance
  3. clip — for paper
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. land — a country
  6. cold — not warm
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. ball — a great time
  11. mate — to breed
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. clip — a video
  14. rash — hasty
  15. mate — a partner
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. land — ground
  18. chair — a leader
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. mate — a friend
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. clip — to cut
  23. land — to come down
  24. cold — an illness

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