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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. face — to point toward
  3. pop — soda
  4. pop — music
  5. clip — for paper
  6. scale — size or range
  7. clip — a video
  8. race — the arms race
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. scale — in music
  11. spring — a coil
  12. pop — to visit
  13. spring — of water
  14. race — humankind
  15. race — a contest
  16. cap — a lid
  17. face — part of the head
  18. file — a tool
  19. clip — to cut
  20. cap — a hat
  21. cap — of ice
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a line of people
  24. face — to confront

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