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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cap — a lid
  3. cold — an illness
  4. present — there
  5. present — the time now
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. cap — a hat
  10. cap — of ice
  11. fork — in a road
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. snap — to click
  14. shower — to wash
  15. bat — the animal
  16. present — a gift
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. rule — government
  19. shower — rain
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. rule — a law
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. cold — the Cold War

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