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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. plane — a tool
  5. cue — a hint
  6. net — in sport
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. last — final
  9. net — after costs
  10. bat — the animal
  11. cue — for pool
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. last — to go on
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cue — a signal
  17. chip — for betting
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. chip — to eat
  21. last — finally
  22. net — for catching
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. chip — in a computer

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