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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. Where did you ________________ them?
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. ground — a position
  6. scale — size or range
  7. mug — a face
  8. cold — an illness
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cold — not warm
  12. mug — a cup
  13. mug — to rob
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. scale — in music
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. ground — crushed
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. clip — to cut
  21. pound — a weight
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. ground — the earth
  24. clip — a video

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