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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  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 — the Cold War
  2. bat — the animal
  3. tear — from crying
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. rash — a series
  6. fall — the season
  7. drill — the tool
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. drill — a practice
  11. fall — to drop
  12. drill — army training
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. tear — to rip
  16. fall — to drop
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. tear — from crying
  20. rash — hasty
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. cold — not warm
  23. perch — the fish
  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