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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. wake — a trail
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. fall — the season
  7. sharp — clever
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. fall — to drop
  10. pit — a hole
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. fall — to drop
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. row — a line
  21. cold — not warm
  22. pit — in a race
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. row — to paddle

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