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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 120 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. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. face — to point toward
  4. clip — to cut
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. cold — not warm
  8. clip — a video
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. clip — for paper
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — size or range
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. face — part of the head
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. face — to confront
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. field — farmland
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — a subject
  23. cold — an illness
  24. temple — side of the head

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