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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  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. wound — an injury
  2. cold — not warm
  3. clip — for paper
  4. face — to point toward
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. face — part of the head
  7. club — a group
  8. club — for golf
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. wound — an injury
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. face — to confront
  16. pitch — completely
  17. clip — a video
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. club — for dancing
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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