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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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. jam — in traffic
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wind — moving air
  7. mark — a trace
  8. clip — to cut
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. capital — a city
  13. capital — money
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. cold — an illness
  16. clip — for paper
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. mark — a grade
  19. wind — moving air
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. clip — a video
  24. cold — the Cold War

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