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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. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cap — a lid
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. cap — of ice
  6. clip — for paper
  7. rest — what's left
  8. rest — what's left
  9. chest — of your body
  10. clip — to cut
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. game — a match
  13. clip — a video
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. rest — a break
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. chest — a box
  20. bore — to drill
  21. bore — to tire
  22. game — wild animals
  23. cap — a hat
  24. cold — not warm

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