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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. object — an aim
  4. wake — a trail
  5. cold — not warm
  6. ground — crushed
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. file — a tool
  9. file — a line of people
  10. cold — an illness
  11. object — a thing
  12. ground — a position
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. chip — to eat
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — to cut
  17. spell — letters
  18. clip — for paper
  19. chip — for betting
  20. file — a document
  21. object — to protest
  22. ground — the earth
  23. spell — a short time
  24. spell — magic

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