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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. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. foot — a measure
  4. shower — to wash
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. fork — in a road
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. shower — rain
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. cold — an illness
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. staff — employees
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. rest — a break
  16. rest — what's left
  17. rest — what's left
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. staff — employees
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. staff — a stick

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