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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 116 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. The water is too ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. pit — a hole
  4. clip — a video
  5. spring — a coil
  6. cold — an illness
  7. deal — to handle
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. clip — to cut
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. spring — the season
  14. clip — for paper
  15. spring — of water
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. pit — in a race
  21. chair — a leader
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. cabinet — ministers

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