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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. Is it ________________ for us to be here?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. clip — a video
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. cold — an illness
  6. shower — to wash
  7. cold — not warm
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. can — a tin
  10. safe — a strongbox
  11. shower — rain
  12. ground — a position
  13. can — to be able to
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — for paper
  16. ground — crushed
  17. can — a tin
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. ground — the earth
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. safe — out of danger

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