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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. cap — a hat
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. cap — a lid
  8. pitch — completely
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. fine — all right
  13. tube — a container
  14. cap — of ice
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. clip — to cut
  17. cold — an illness
  18. fine — high quality
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. pound — a weight
  21. tube — the underground
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. clip — a video
  24. trunk — of a tree

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