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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. hand — in cards
  6. roll — a list
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. cold — not warm
  10. land — to come down
  11. last — to go on
  12. roll — a cake
  13. land — ground
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — a video
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. last — final
  20. cold — an illness
  21. land — a country
  22. hand — help
  23. last — finally
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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