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

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wound — an injury
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. pop — music
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wound — an injury
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. mug — a cup
  12. land — ground
  13. cold — an illness
  14. land — a country
  15. fine — high quality
  16. lean — thin
  17. land — to come down
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. pop — to visit
  21. fine — all right
  22. mug — to rob
  23. lean — to bend
  24. pop — soda

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