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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. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  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. wave — a sudden rise
  2. file — a tool
  3. pop — music
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. cap — a hat
  6. fall — to drop
  7. fall — to drop
  8. cap — of ice
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. fall — the season
  13. cold — an illness
  14. pop — soda
  15. file — a document
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pop — to visit
  19. toast — bread
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. cap — a lid
  22. fork — in a road
  23. file — a line of people
  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