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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. chest — a box
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. season — in sport
  6. season — of the year
  7. chest — of your body
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. cold — an illness
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. chest — of your body
  12. snap — to click
  13. key — the most important part
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. cold — not warm
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. bat — the animal
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. key — in music
  24. key — for a lock

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