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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. mug — a cup
  4. cold — an illness
  5. tear — from crying
  6. root — of a word
  7. mug — a face
  8. file — a document
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. roll — a list
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. row — to paddle
  13. file — a tool
  14. root — the cause
  15. cold — not warm
  16. roll — a cake
  17. vault — a safe
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — to rip
  20. file — a line of people
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. row — a line
  23. mug — to rob
  24. root — of a plant

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