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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. fall — the season
  4. foot — a measure
  5. swing — music
  6. ball — a dance
  7. fall — to drop
  8. cold — not warm
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. swing — in golf
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. fall — to drop
  16. sharp — clever
  17. cold — an illness
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. swing — to play on
  21. mine — for digging
  22. hand — help
  23. hand — in cards
  24. ball — a great time

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