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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 116 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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. sharp — clever
  5. tube — a container
  6. mug — a face
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. land — to come down
  9. cold — an illness
  10. land — a country
  11. cold — not warm
  12. tube — the underground
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — to tease
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. mark — a trace
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. mug — a cup
  19. kid — child
  20. mug — to rob
  21. land — ground
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. cold — the Cold War

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