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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 120 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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. mug — to rob
  3. pop — to visit
  4. mug — a cup
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pop — music
  8. capital — money
  9. row — a line
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. wound — an injury
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. pop — soda
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. row — to paddle
  17. deal — to handle
  18. wound — an injury
  19. capital — a city
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. mug — a face
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. cold — not warm
  24. row — a quarrel

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