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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. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — from crying
  6. row — to paddle
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. file — a line of people
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. capital — money
  13. cold — an illness
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. file — a document
  16. row — a line
  17. capital — a city
  18. tear — to rip
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. plane — a tool
  21. cold — not warm
  22. fork — in a road
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. file — a tool

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