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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. tube — a container
  3. cold — an illness
  4. perch — the fish
  5. game — wild animals
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. kid — to tease
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. tube — the underground
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. chair — a leader
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. game — a match
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. kid — child
  23. lie — to recline
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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