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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. last — final
  4. cold — not warm
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. root — the cause
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. wound — an injury
  9. deal — to handle
  10. fall — the season
  11. fall — to drop
  12. last — to go on
  13. lie — to recline
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. root — of a word
  17. fall — to drop
  18. last — finally
  19. cold — an illness
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. root — of a plant
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wound — an injury

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