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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. file — a line of people
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. hand — help
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. file — a document
  9. march — the month
  10. face — to confront
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. bulb — for light
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. bulb — for light
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bear — the animal
  17. march — the month
  18. hand — in cards
  19. face — part of the head
  20. file — a tool
  21. face — to point toward
  22. kid — child
  23. bear — the animal
  24. march — music

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