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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. clip — to cut
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. land — ground
  6. clip — a video
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. land — a country
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cold — an illness
  11. land — to come down
  12. march — music
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. march — the month
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. saw — the tool
  18. march — the month
  19. bound — obliged
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bound — certain
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. bound — tied together

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