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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. swing — to play on
  3. clip — a video
  4. swing — music
  5. cold — not warm
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. face — to confront
  9. face — part of the head
  10. clip — for paper
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. pit — in a race
  15. pit — a hole
  16. wound — an injury
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. deal — to handle
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. swing — in golf
  21. wound — an injury
  22. face — to point toward
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. cold — an illness

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