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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. hand — in cards
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. deal — to handle
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. lean — to bend
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. wound — an injury
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. drill — army training
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. lean — thin
  16. sharp — clever
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. drill — the tool
  24. drill — a practice

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