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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 124 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. face — to confront
  3. band — a ring
  4. clip — to cut
  5. firm — steady
  6. march — the month
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. march — music
  9. clip — for paper
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. key — for a lock
  12. clip — a video
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. face — to point toward
  15. firm — decided
  16. face — part of the head
  17. firm — a company
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. march — the month
  21. cold — not warm
  22. key — in music
  23. key — the most important part
  24. band — a music group

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