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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 120 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. rock — music
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. land — ground
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. band — a ring
  10. rock — a stone
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. cold — an illness
  13. fine — all right
  14. land — to come down
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. squash — the sport
  17. fine — high quality
  18. band — a music group
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. rock — to move gently
  21. land — a country
  22. squash — to crush
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. straw — a straw man

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