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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. clip — for paper
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. mine — for digging
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. cap — a hat
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. bass — low music
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. clip — a video
  12. wake — a trail
  13. capital — a city
  14. race — the arms race
  15. race — a contest
  16. clip — to cut
  17. cap — of ice
  18. bass — the fish
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. race — humankind
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — money
  24. cap — a lid

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