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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. wind — moving air
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. root — the cause
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. file — a tool
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. last — to go on
  11. pound — a weight
  12. snap — to click
  13. lie — to recline
  14. file — a document
  15. root — of a plant
  16. file — a line of people
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. cold — an illness
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. last — finally
  22. last — final
  23. root — of a word
  24. lie — an untruth

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