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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. club — for dancing
  3. cold — not warm
  4. sharp — clever
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. pop — soda
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. pop — to visit
  9. cold — an illness
  10. mug — to rob
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. mug — a face
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. rock — music
  15. clip — for paper
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. mug — a cup
  19. rock — a stone
  20. pop — music
  21. clip — a video
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. club — a group
  24. club — for 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