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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. bass — low music
  6. land — to come down
  7. land — a country
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. chip — to eat
  11. cold — an illness
  12. chip — for betting
  13. last — final
  14. last — to go on
  15. bass — the fish
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. clip — for paper
  18. cold — not warm
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. clip — a video
  23. land — ground
  24. clip — to cut

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