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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. wind — moving air
  3. saw — the tool
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. saw — the tool
  6. bat — the animal
  7. cold — not warm
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. hand — help
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. cold — an illness
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. hand — in cards
  19. stand — to bear
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. deal — to handle
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. deal — a big deal

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