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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. wind — moving air
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. mug — to rob
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. mug — a face
  13. cold — not warm
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. stand — to bear
  16. kick — in football
  17. file — a tool
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. file — a line of people
  20. mug — a cup
  21. file — a document
  22. wind — moving air
  23. dip — to sink
  24. stand — for spectators

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