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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. kid — child
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. dip — to sink
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. cold — an illness
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. bat — the animal
  9. mug — a cup
  10. cold — not warm
  11. mug — a face
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. kid — to tease
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. mug — to rob
  21. tube — the underground
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. tube — a container
  24. wind — moving air

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