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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. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. capital — a city
  5. dip — to sink
  6. last — finally
  7. sharp — clever
  8. rule — government
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. capital — money
  13. cold — an illness
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. last — to go on
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. last — final
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. rule — a law
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. calf — a young animal

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