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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. fine — high quality
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. land — a country
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. land — to come down
  7. file — a tool
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. cold — not warm
  10. tear — from crying
  11. bulb — for light
  12. snap — to click
  13. file — a document
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. tear — from crying
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. file — a line of people
  19. fine — all right
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bulb — for light
  22. land — ground
  23. tear — to rip
  24. bulb — of a plant

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