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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. fine — all right
  3. can — to be able to
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wound — an injury
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. can — a tin
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wind — moving air
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. can — a tin
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. chair — a leader
  22. fine — high quality
  23. wind — moving air
  24. temple — a place of worship

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