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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. dip — to sink
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. clip — for paper
  6. fall — to drop
  7. swing — to play on
  8. last — to go on
  9. pop — to visit
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. cold — an illness
  12. fall — the season
  13. swing — music
  14. fall — to drop
  15. last — finally
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. clip — a video
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bowl — a dish
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pop — soda
  22. pop — music
  23. last — final
  24. swing — in golf

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