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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: clip · spell · firm · fan · rest · face · cold · mug

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. rest — a break
  4. firm — steady
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — for paper
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. cold — not warm
  9. rest — what's left
  10. face — to confront
  11. face — part of the head
  12. spell — magic
  13. face — to point toward
  14. mug — a face
  15. clip — a video
  16. firm — a company
  17. spell — a short time
  18. firm — decided
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. spell — letters
  21. mug — to rob
  22. rest — what's left
  23. mug — a cup
  24. cold — an illness

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