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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. cold — an illness
  5. court — for sport
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. wind — moving air
  8. court — of law
  9. degree — from a university
  10. drill — army training
  11. lie — to recline
  12. court — of a king
  13. drill — a practice
  14. degree — temperature
  15. snap — to click
  16. drill — the tool
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. prune — to trim
  20. prune — to trim
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. degree — an amount
  23. wind — moving air
  24. lie — an untruth

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