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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pop — soda
  4. object — an aim
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — an illness
  7. rest — a break
  8. rest — what's left
  9. pop — to visit
  10. object — to protest
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. clip — for paper
  14. cold — not warm
  15. pop — music
  16. rest — what's left
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. bass — low music
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bass — the fish
  24. hide — to keep secret

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