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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. can — to be able to
  4. pop — soda
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. wound — an injury
  9. can — a tin
  10. saw — the tool
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. file — a document
  13. file — a line of people
  14. wound — an injury
  15. file — a tool
  16. sharp — clever
  17. pop — to visit
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. pop — music
  22. cold — an illness
  23. can — a tin
  24. saw — the tool

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