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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. kid — to tease
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. stand — to bear
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. cold — an illness
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. mine — for digging
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. squash — to crush
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. content — happy
  14. rash — a series
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. content — the amount
  17. wake — a trail
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. cold — not warm
  20. squash — the sport
  21. kid — child
  22. rash — hasty
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. stand — on your feet

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