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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. pop — soda
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. pop — to visit
  5. file — a document
  6. ruler — a monarch
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. cold — an illness
  10. trunk — of a tree
  11. file — a line of people
  12. file — a tool
  13. cold — not warm
  14. deal — to handle
  15. pop — music
  16. hand — help
  17. hand — in cards
  18. face — to point toward
  19. face — to confront
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. face — part of the head

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