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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. row — to paddle
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. file — a tool
  6. snap — to click
  7. court — of a king
  8. court — of law
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. file — a line of people
  13. court — for sport
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. scale — in music
  17. scale — size or range
  18. cold — an illness
  19. file — a document
  20. cold — not warm
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. row — a line

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