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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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. pop — to visit
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. cold — an illness
  5. tear — from crying
  6. dip — to sink
  7. cold — not warm
  8. tear — to rip
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pop — soda
  11. saw — the tool
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pop — music
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. land — to come down
  18. land — a country
  19. saw — the tool
  20. tear — from crying
  21. chest — a box
  22. scale — size or range
  23. land — ground
  24. dip — to dunk

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