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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. net — for catching
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cell — in biology
  7. net — after costs
  8. track — a song
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. snap — to click
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. cap — a hat
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. track — a path
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. track — to keep track
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. cap — of ice
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. net — in sport

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