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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 120 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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  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. cold — not warm
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. last — to go on
  4. plane — a tool
  5. last — final
  6. mark — a trace
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. mark — a grade
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. clip — to cut
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. clip — a video
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. bulb — for light
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. bulb — for light
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. clip — for paper
  20. last — finally
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. plane — an aircraft
  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