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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. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. race — a contest
  4. coach — pulled by horses
  5. cold — not warm
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. race — humankind
  8. clip — for paper
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. clip — a video
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. race — the arms race
  13. cold — an illness
  14. saw — the tool
  15. pop — music
  16. clip — to cut
  17. pop — soda
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. saw — the tool
  21. pop — to visit
  22. hand — in cards
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. hand — help

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