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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 124 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bank — of a river
  3. cold — not warm
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. mate — a partner
  8. bank — for money
  9. bank — for money
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. mate — a friend
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. clip — for paper
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — to cut
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. mate — to breed
  19. capital — a city
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. cold — an illness
  23. capital — money
  24. temple — a place of worship

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