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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 116 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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spell — letters
  5. file — a line of people
  6. spell — magic
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. tear — from crying
  9. plane — a tool
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. staff — employees
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — to tease
  14. file — a document
  15. staff — employees
  16. cold — an illness
  17. tear — from crying
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. file — a tool
  20. staff — a stick
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. kid — child
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. tear — to rip

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