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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. The tickets are free of ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. wound — an injury
  4. mine — for digging
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. charge — in control
  8. charge — a price
  9. chest — of your body
  10. sharp — clever
  11. charge — electricity
  12. last — to go on
  13. last — finally
  14. object — a thing
  15. cold — an illness
  16. last — final
  17. object — to protest
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. object — an aim
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. cold — not warm

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