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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.

Make a worksheet

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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  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. can — a tin
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. wind — moving air
  4. fine — all right
  5. bound — obliged
  6. row — a line
  7. dip — to sink
  8. bound — tied together
  9. cold — an illness
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. can — to be able to
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. row — to paddle
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. can — a tin
  17. bound — certain
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. fine — high quality
  20. wind — moving air
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. cold — not warm
  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