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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. race — a contest
  6. present — a gift
  7. rest — a break
  8. clip — a video
  9. pop — music
  10. band — a ring
  11. cold — not warm
  12. present — the time now
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rest — what's left
  15. race — humankind
  16. clip — for paper
  17. bulb — for light
  18. race — the arms race
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. bulb — for light
  21. pop — to visit
  22. band — a music group
  23. present — there
  24. clip — to cut

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