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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. staff — employees
  3. clip — for paper
  4. rock — a stone
  5. rock — music
  6. wake — a trail
  7. clip — to cut
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. track — a song
  11. staff — employees
  12. track — a path
  13. cap — a hat
  14. cap — a lid
  15. clip — a video
  16. saw — the tool
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. track — to keep track
  20. staff — a stick
  21. cap — of ice
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — an illness
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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