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

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. 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 — not warm
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. game — wild animals
  4. charge — a price
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. charge — in control
  7. game — a match
  8. charge — electricity
  9. file — a tool
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. file — a line of people
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. file — a document
  18. 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