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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. club — a group
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. shower — to wash
  6. foot — the bottom
  7. bat — the animal
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. foot — a measure
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. cold — an illness
  13. fine — high quality
  14. club — for golf
  15. fine — all right
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. hand — help
  18. fine — a penalty
  19. club — for dancing
  20. shower — rain
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. hand — in cards

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