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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 120 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. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. cap — a lid
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. cold — an illness
  8. face — to confront
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. last — final
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. perch — the fish
  14. last — to go on
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. last — finally
  17. cap — a hat
  18. face — to point toward
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. face — part of the head
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. stand — to bear
  24. cap — of ice

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