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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 120 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. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. squash — the sport
  3. chest — of your body
  4. tube — a container
  5. cap — of ice
  6. chest — of your body
  7. tube — the underground
  8. club — for golf
  9. club — a group
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. last — to go on
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. cap — a hat
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. club — for dancing
  17. cold — an illness
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. last — finally
  20. squash — to crush
  21. cap — a lid
  22. last — final
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. chest — a box

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