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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. last — to go on
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. clip — for paper
  6. last — final
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. last — finally
  9. firm — decided
  10. bass — the fish
  11. firm — steady
  12. spell — a short time
  13. firm — a company
  14. spell — magic
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — an illness
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. spell — letters
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. bass — low music
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. clip — a video

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