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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. march — the month
  3. cold — an illness
  4. chest — a box
  5. rule — a law
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. march — music
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. cold — not warm
  11. kid — child
  12. lean — thin
  13. march — the month
  14. rule — government
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. chest — of your body
  18. kid — to tease
  19. chest — of your body
  20. deal — to handle
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. lean — to bend

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