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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. dip — to sink
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wind — moving air
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. file — a tool
  7. row — to paddle
  8. game — wild animals
  9. safe — a strongbox
  10. saw — the tool
  11. file — a line of people
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. file — a document
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. game — a match
  16. wind — moving air
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. saw — the tool
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. dip — a sauce

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