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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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. land — to come down
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. sharp — clever
  5. fall — the season
  6. land — ground
  7. chest — of your body
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. craft — boats
  10. squash — to crush
  11. leaves — of a tree
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. craft — a skill
  15. leaves — to go away
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. land — a country
  18. fall — to drop
  19. chest — a box
  20. squash — the sport
  21. chest — of your body
  22. fall — to drop
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — not warm

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