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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. tube — the underground
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. tube — a container
  9. fall — to drop
  10. game — a match
  11. cold — an illness
  12. row — to paddle
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. wound — an injury
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. can — a tin
  17. cold — not warm
  18. fall — the season
  19. can — to be able to
  20. wound — an injury
  21. can — a tin
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. row — a line
  24. game — wild animals

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