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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. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  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. mug — a face
  2. track — a song
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. cold — an illness
  6. sharp — clever
  7. track — a path
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. shower — to wash
  10. track — to keep track
  11. cold — not warm
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. hand — help
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. deal — to handle
  17. shower — rain
  18. mug — to rob
  19. hand — in cards
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. mug — a cup
  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