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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. cold — an illness
  7. last — final
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. last — to go on
  10. mug — to rob
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. clip — to cut
  13. mug — a cup
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. season — in sport
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — a video
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. season — of the year
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. mug — a face
  22. pitch — completely
  23. last — finally
  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