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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. spring — of water
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. foot — a measure
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. bat — the animal
  9. cold — not warm
  10. tear — from crying
  11. spring — a coil
  12. spring — the season
  13. tear — from crying
  14. ball — a dance
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. tear — to rip
  22. rash — hasty
  23. rash — a series
  24. ball — a great time

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