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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.

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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. cold — an illness
  5. tear — from crying
  6. ball — a dance
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. rash — a series
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. pound — a weight
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. snap — to click
  15. ground — crushed
  16. ground — the earth
  17. ground — a position
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. rash — hasty
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. tear — from crying
  22. tear — to rip
  23. ball — a great time
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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