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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 116 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — an illness
  3. content — happy
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. spell — magic
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. clip — a video
  10. spell — letters
  11. clip — for paper
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. pit — a hole
  15. clip — to cut
  16. cold — not warm
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. bound — certain
  19. bound — obliged
  20. spell — a short time
  21. content — the amount
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. bound — tied together

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