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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. fall — to drop
  3. sharp — clever
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. bulb — for light
  6. kid — to tease
  7. fall — to drop
  8. spring — a coil
  9. key — in music
  10. key — the most important part
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. key — for a lock
  14. spring — of water
  15. fall — the season
  16. deal — to handle
  17. cold — an illness
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. spring — the season
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. bulb — for light
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. kid — child

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