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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — a video
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. cold — not warm
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. ball — a great time
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. key — in music
  10. key — the most important part
  11. cap — a lid
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. clip — to cut
  14. roll — a cake
  15. ball — a dance
  16. wind — moving air
  17. cold — an illness
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. key — for a lock
  20. cap — a hat
  21. wind — moving air
  22. roll — a list
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. cap — of ice

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