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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. tear — from crying
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. tear — to rip
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. squash — the sport
  13. squash — to crush
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. cold — not warm
  16. tear — from crying
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. fine — all right
  19. fine — high quality
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. kick — in football
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. sharp — clever
  24. nail — for a hammer

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