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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cap — a hat
  4. toast — bread
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. drill — a practice
  8. snap — to click
  9. drill — army training
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wind — moving air
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. cap — a lid
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. cap — of ice
  20. drill — the tool
  21. content — happy
  22. content — the amount
  23. wind — moving air
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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