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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. stand — to bear
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. land — ground
  6. land — to come down
  7. cold — an illness
  8. fine — high quality
  9. club — for golf
  10. fine — all right
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. club — for dancing
  16. clip — for paper
  17. club — a group
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. snap — to click
  20. land — a country
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bat — the animal
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — to cut

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