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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.

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: last · clip · ball · cold · mine · cabinet · jam · deal

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. cabinet — ministers
  2. ball — a dance
  3. clip — for paper
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. ball — a great time
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. last — finally
  11. cold — not warm
  12. last — final
  13. clip — to cut
  14. deal — to handle
  15. clip — a video
  16. last — to go on
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. mine — for digging
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. cold — an illness
  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