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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. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. scale — size or range
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. cold — an illness
  6. clip — a video
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. face — part of the head
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. cap — of ice
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. clip — for paper
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cap — a hat
  16. pop — soda
  17. face — to point toward
  18. clip — to cut
  19. pound — a weight
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. pop — to visit
  22. scale — in music
  23. face — to confront
  24. cap — a lid

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