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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 120 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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. This piece is in a major ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. cold — not warm
  3. game — a match
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. cold — an illness
  7. key — in music
  8. deal — to handle
  9. row — to paddle
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. key — for a lock
  12. row — a line
  13. rash — hasty
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. key — the most important part
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. rash — a series
  19. sharp — clever
  20. game — wild animals
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. cold — the Cold War

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