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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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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: cap · bay · wound · squash · rock · clip · pitcher · cold

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. clip — a video
  3. squash — the sport
  4. cap — a hat
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. wound — an injury
  8. clip — to cut
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. rock — a stone
  13. rock — music
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. cap — a lid
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cap — of ice
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. cold — an illness
  21. squash — to crush
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. clip — for paper

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