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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — to protest
  2. shower — to wash
  3. dip — to sink
  4. object — a thing
  5. sharp — clever
  6. drill — the tool
  7. saw — the tool
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. shower — rain
  11. drill — army training
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bulb — for light
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. cold — an illness
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. bulb — for light
  22. saw — the tool
  23. drill — a practice
  24. object — an aim

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