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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: court · snap · lie · hand · pitcher · dip · cold · file

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  12. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  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. cold — the Cold War
  2. file — a line of people
  3. hand — help
  4. dip — to dunk
  5. file — a tool
  6. lie — to recline
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. dip — to sink
  9. court — for sport
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. court — of law
  14. hand — in cards
  15. cold — not warm
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. file — a document
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. snap — to click
  23. court — of a king
  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