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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. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a grade
  2. mine — for digging
  3. mark — a trace
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. rock — music
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. cold — an illness
  10. tear — to rip
  11. ball — a dance
  12. rock — to move gently
  13. tear — from crying
  14. scale — in music
  15. rock — a stone
  16. tear — from crying
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. cold — not warm
  23. scale — size or range
  24. ball — a great time

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