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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: fall · sharp · wound · cold · clip · pitcher · mine · ruler

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. clip — to cut
  4. wound — an injury
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. clip — for paper
  8. wound — an injury
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. mine — for digging
  11. clip — a video
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. sharp — clever
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. fall — to drop
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. cold — not warm
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. fall — to drop
  21. cold — an illness
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. fall — the season
  24. cold — the Cold War

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