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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. net — after costs
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — an illness
  6. net — in sport
  7. net — for catching
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. jam — to spread on bread
  10. land — ground
  11. row — to paddle
  12. land — to come down
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. toast — bread
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. row — a line
  17. jam — in traffic
  18. chip — for betting
  19. chip — to eat
  20. land — a country
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. vault — a safe
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. jam — a tight spot

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