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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. wind — moving air
  5. mine — for digging
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kid — child
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. wind — moving air
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. rest — what's left
  17. kick — in football
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. rest — a break
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. rest — what's left
  24. clip — to cut

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