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

Word bank: rock · wound · race · clip · cold · suit · cabinet · fork

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. cold — an illness
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — for paper
  8. race — a contest
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. suit — in cards
  12. clip — a video
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. rock — music
  16. race — the arms race
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. rock — a stone
  19. fork — in a road
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. suit — clothes
  22. wound — an injury
  23. race — humankind
  24. suit — to fit

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