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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. game — a match
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. rest — what's left
  5. wind — moving air
  6. fall — to drop
  7. rest — a break
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. cold — an illness
  10. wind — moving air
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. game — wild animals
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. tube — the underground
  15. fall — the season
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. fall — to drop
  18. tube — a container
  19. stand — to bear
  20. bound — tied together
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. bound — certain
  23. rest — what's left
  24. bound — obliged

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