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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. face — part of the head
  3. march — the month
  4. cue — a hint
  5. last — to go on
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. cold — not warm
  8. sharp — clever
  9. row — to paddle
  10. hand — help
  11. march — music
  12. cue — for pool
  13. face — to point toward
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. face — to confront
  19. row — a line
  20. last — finally
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. march — the month
  23. last — final
  24. cue — a signal

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