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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. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. cold — not warm
  3. rock — music
  4. drill — a practice
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. wind — moving air
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. mug — a face
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. kid — child
  14. kid — to tease
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. rock — a stone
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. mug — a cup
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. drill — army training
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. cold — an illness
  23. mug — to rob
  24. wind — moving air

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