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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. tear — from crying
  4. mark — a trace
  5. fine — all right
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. spring — the season
  9. tear — to rip
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. cold — an illness
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. cold — not warm
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. tear — from crying
  16. toast — bread
  17. spring — of water
  18. sharp — clever
  19. mark — a grade
  20. spring — a coil
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. sharp — exactly

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