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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 116 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. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. land — to come down
  3. row — a line
  4. fall — the season
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. fall — to drop
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. deal — to handle
  14. land — a country
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. fall — to drop
  17. land — ground
  18. cold — an illness
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. row — to paddle
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. row — a quarrel

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