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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. rash — a series
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. rash — hasty
  8. lie — to recline
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. rock — music
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. rock — a stone
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. file — a line of people
  21. file — a tool
  22. pitch — completely
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. file — a document

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