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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. tear — from crying
  3. pop — to visit
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. tube — in a tire
  6. pop — music
  7. ground — the earth
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. row — a line
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. tube — the underground
  12. tear — to rip
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. mine — for digging
  15. cold — an illness
  16. ground — a position
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. pop — soda
  19. row — to paddle
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. ground — crushed
  22. cold — not warm
  23. tube — a container
  24. tear — from crying

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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