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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. mug — a cup
  6. mug — to rob
  7. file — a tool
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wound — an injury
  11. capital — a city
  12. board — to get on
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. stand — to bear
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. mug — a face
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. wound — an injury
  20. file — a line of people
  21. board — a committee
  22. bat — the animal
  23. file — a document
  24. capital — money

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