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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. drill — army training
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. cold — an illness
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. drill — the tool
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. drill — a practice
  9. ball — a great time
  10. deal — to handle
  11. clip — to cut
  12. row — a line
  13. cold — not warm
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. clip — for paper
  16. rash — a series
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. rash — hasty
  19. ball — a dance
  20. row — to paddle
  21. clip — a video
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. pound — a weight

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