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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. last — final
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. clip — for paper
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. clip — to cut
  9. last — to go on
  10. cold — not warm
  11. deal — to handle
  12. mine — for digging
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. can — a tin
  16. rush — hurry
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. last — finally
  19. clip — a video
  20. can — a tin
  21. cold — an illness
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. can — to be able to
  24. hide — to keep secret

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