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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 can't ________________ this cold.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. toast — bread
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. chest — of your body
  5. mine — for digging
  6. cold — an illness
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. mug — a cup
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. chest — of your body
  11. saw — the tool
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. chest — a box
  14. roll — a list
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. roll — a cake
  18. saw — the tool
  19. mug — to rob
  20. cold — not warm
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. mug — a face
  24. stand — on your feet

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