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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  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. fall — to drop
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. snap — to click
  5. can — a tin
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. fall — to drop
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. fine — high quality
  13. fall — the season
  14. can — to be able to
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. dip — to sink
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. fine — all right
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. can — a tin
  23. cold — an illness
  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