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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 116 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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. last — final
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. kid — child
  5. cold — an illness
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. spell — letters
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. bear — the animal
  10. kid — to tease
  11. last — to go on
  12. rest — what's left
  13. bear — the animal
  14. spell — a short time
  15. row — to paddle
  16. rest — what's left
  17. last — finally
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. rest — a break
  20. spell — magic
  21. cold — not warm
  22. row — a line
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. row — a quarrel

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