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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — to rip
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. game — wild animals
  9. saw — the tool
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. saw — the tool
  13. cold — not warm
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. swing — in golf
  16. game — a match
  17. fine — all right
  18. swing — music
  19. tear — from crying
  20. swing — to play on
  21. cold — an illness
  22. sharp — clever
  23. lie — to recline
  24. sharp — exactly

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