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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. When will it ________________ you to start?
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. bat — the animal
  3. land — a country
  4. suit — clothes
  5. clip — a video
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. suit — to fit
  9. land — ground
  10. suit — in cards
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. clip — for paper
  13. face — part of the head
  14. can — to be able to
  15. cold — not warm
  16. land — to come down
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. clip — to cut
  19. face — to point toward
  20. band — a ring
  21. can — a tin
  22. band — a music group
  23. face — to confront
  24. cold — an illness

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