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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. clip — to cut
  3. pit — a hole
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. root — of a plant
  6. pit — in a race
  7. track — to keep track
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. saw — the tool
  10. track — a path
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. band — a music group
  14. cold — an illness
  15. root — of a word
  16. saw — the tool
  17. clip — a video
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. track — a song
  21. cold — not warm
  22. band — a ring
  23. root — the cause
  24. clip — for paper

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