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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. chair — a leader
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. face — part of the head
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. mate — to breed
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. wound — an injury
  10. face — to confront
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. cold — not warm
  13. clip — a video
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. mate — a partner
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. cold — an illness
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. mate — a friend
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. clip — for paper
  24. face — to point toward

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