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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cue — a hint
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. ground — a position
  6. wound — an injury
  7. last — final
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. cold — an illness
  10. last — to go on
  11. present — the time now
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. ground — crushed
  17. cue — for pool
  18. present — a gift
  19. cue — a signal
  20. last — finally
  21. sharp — clever
  22. present — there
  23. ground — the earth
  24. sharp — with an edge

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