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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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. tear — from crying
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. dip — to sink
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. snap — to click
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. mate — to breed
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. roll — a cake
  13. tear — to rip
  14. mate — a partner
  15. mate — a friend
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. pitch — completely
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. plane — a tool
  21. tear — from crying
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. roll — a list
  24. plane — in geometry

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