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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. saw — the tool
  3. bound — tied together
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. toast — bread
  6. march — the month
  7. land — to come down
  8. wind — moving air
  9. saw — the tool
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. wind — moving air
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. land — a country
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. bound — certain
  17. march — the month
  18. land — ground
  19. bound — obliged
  20. cold — not warm
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. march — music
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. cold — an illness

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