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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 116 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 water is too ________________.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pass — a permit
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. clip — a video
  5. mate — to breed
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. wind — moving air
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. cold — an illness
  17. clip — to cut
  18. mate — a partner
  19. wound — an injury
  20. mate — a friend
  21. pitch — completely
  22. wind — moving air
  23. clip — for paper
  24. wound — an injury

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