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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. capital — money
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. drill — the tool
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. drill — a practice
  20. rush — hurry
  21. wound — an injury
  22. cold — not warm
  23. capital — a city
  24. drill — army training

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