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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. pop — soda
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. clip — a video
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. pop — music
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. clip — to cut
  11. tube — a container
  12. branch — a division
  13. can — a tin
  14. mine — for digging
  15. pit — in a race
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. pit — a hole
  19. can — to be able to
  20. clip — for paper
  21. can — a tin
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. tube — the underground
  24. pop — to visit

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