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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. When will it ________________ you to start?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. clip — to cut
  4. clip — for paper
  5. ball — a great time
  6. last — to go on
  7. last — final
  8. last — finally
  9. cold — an illness
  10. face — to confront
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. suit — to fit
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. suit — in cards
  15. face — part of the head
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. suit — clothes
  18. cold — not warm
  19. chair — a leader
  20. face — to point toward
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. clip — a video

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