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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. sharp — clever
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. cold — an illness
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cold — not warm
  11. rock — music
  12. bat — the animal
  13. pound — a weight
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. rock — a stone
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. cabinet — ministers

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