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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. file — a line of people
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. rock — to move gently
  5. rock — music
  6. rule — government
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. dip — to sink
  11. file — a document
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. cold — an illness
  15. rule — a law
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. file — a tool
  18. rock — a stone
  19. mine — for digging
  20. sharp — clever
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mine — belonging to me

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