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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. False peace will not ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. clip — a video
  3. ground — a position
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. perch — the fish
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. clip — for paper
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. ground — the earth
  11. clip — to cut
  12. last — final
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. date — the fruit
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. last — finally
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. ground — crushed
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. cold — an illness
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. cold — not warm

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