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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. fall — to drop
  3. present — a gift
  4. pop — soda
  5. rule — government
  6. pop — to visit
  7. rule — a law
  8. cold — not warm
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. fall — to drop
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. firm — a company
  13. cold — an illness
  14. firm — steady
  15. present — the time now
  16. dip — to sink
  17. clip — a video
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. firm — decided
  20. pop — music
  21. present — there
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. fall — the season

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