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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. saw — the tool
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. capital — a city
  10. bat — the animal
  11. cold — an illness
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. capital — money
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. squash — the sport
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. lean — thin
  20. lean — to bend
  21. squash — to crush
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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