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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. clip — for paper
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. track — a song
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. track — to keep track
  10. clip — to cut
  11. object — a thing
  12. cold — not warm
  13. can — to be able to
  14. cold — an illness
  15. object — to protest
  16. clip — a video
  17. can — a tin
  18. can — a tin
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — rain
  22. track — a path
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. object — an aim

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