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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. pop — to visit
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. ground — the earth
  6. clip — for paper
  7. pop — soda
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pop — music
  10. face — to point toward
  11. can — a tin
  12. can — to be able to
  13. squash — the sport
  14. swing — music
  15. clip — a video
  16. ground — crushed
  17. ground — a position
  18. face — to confront
  19. face — part of the head
  20. squash — to crush
  21. cold — not warm
  22. swing — to play on
  23. clip — to cut
  24. swing — in golf

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