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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — music
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wind — moving air
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. rule — government
  6. march — the month
  7. pop — to visit
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. wind — moving air
  10. pop — soda
  11. rule — a law
  12. march — the month
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. march — music
  15. clip — a video
  16. cold — an illness
  17. clip — for paper
  18. clip — to cut
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. face — part of the head
  21. face — to confront
  22. rush — hurry
  23. cold — not warm
  24. face — to point toward

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