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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. mate — to breed
  3. face — to point toward
  4. mate — a partner
  5. mate — a friend
  6. bass — low music
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. tear — to rip
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. row — to paddle
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. bass — the fish
  14. row — a line
  15. face — to confront
  16. cold — an illness
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. tear — from crying
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. cold — not warm
  21. pit — in a race
  22. face — part of the head
  23. tear — from crying
  24. pit — a hole

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