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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. row — a line
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. spell — a short time
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. spell — magic
  14. bear — the animal
  15. hand — in cards
  16. vault — a safe
  17. row — to paddle
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. spell — letters
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. hand — help
  22. bear — the animal
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. cold — an illness

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