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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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. march — the month
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. cold — an illness
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. mine — for digging
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. lie — to recline
  11. march — the month
  12. clip — a video
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. ground — a position
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. clip — to cut
  17. ground — the earth
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. clip — for paper
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. cold — not warm
  23. march — music
  24. mine — an explosive

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