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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. wake — a trail
  4. saw — the tool
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. spring — a coil
  7. capital — a city
  8. file — a tool
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a line of people
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. capital — money
  16. row — to paddle
  17. spring — of water
  18. row — a line
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. cold — not warm
  21. saw — the tool
  22. spring — the season
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. capital — a big letter

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