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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. game — wild animals
  3. cold — an illness
  4. object — to protest
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. tube — a container
  8. tube — the underground
  9. squash — the sport
  10. object — a thing
  11. squash — to crush
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. mate — a partner
  14. game — a match
  15. capital — money
  16. mate — to breed
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. capital — a city
  19. pitch — completely
  20. object — an aim
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. mate — a friend

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