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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. club — for dancing
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. tube — the underground
  6. mark — a trace
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. club — a group
  11. kid — to tease
  12. clip — a video
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. clip — for paper
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. mark — a grade
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. club — for golf
  21. kid — child
  22. tube — a container
  23. clip — to cut
  24. cold — not warm

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