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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. bound — obliged
  3. hand — help
  4. sharp — clever
  5. rest — what's left
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. bound — certain
  8. rest — a break
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. snap — to click
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. rest — what's left
  20. bound — tied together
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. hand — in cards
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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