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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. roll — a cake
  3. face — part of the head
  4. clip — for paper
  5. face — to confront
  6. key — the most important part
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. mark — a trace
  9. roll — a list
  10. cold — an illness
  11. key — in music
  12. cold — not warm
  13. face — to point toward
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. track — to keep track
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. mark — a grade
  18. key — for a lock
  19. craft — a skill
  20. track — a path
  21. craft — boats
  22. clip — to cut
  23. track — a song
  24. clip — a video

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