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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. squash — to crush
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — money
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. file — a document
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. chest — a box
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. file — a line of people
  12. swing — to play on
  13. file — a tool
  14. chest — of your body
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. chest — of your body
  18. swing — music
  19. saw — the tool
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. swing — in golf
  22. squash — the sport
  23. saw — the tool
  24. temple — a place of worship

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