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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. spell — letters
  3. face — to confront
  4. bass — the fish
  5. cold — not warm
  6. spell — magic
  7. degree — an amount
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. can — a tin
  10. face — to point toward
  11. bass — low music
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. cold — an illness
  14. degree — from a university
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. mug — a face
  17. spell — a short time
  18. can — to be able to
  19. face — part of the head
  20. degree — temperature
  21. mug — to rob
  22. mug — a cup
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. can — a tin

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