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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 124 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 ________________ went through the wall.
  2. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  13. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. wave — of the sea
  3. cold — not warm
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. chair — a leader
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. kid — to tease
  12. nail — on a finger
  13. wave — with your hand
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. row — to paddle
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. dip — to sink
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. row — a line
  22. kid — child
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. dip — a sauce

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