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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. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. staff — a stick
  5. wax — to grow
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. chest — a box
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. drill — the tool
  13. game — a match
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. drill — a practice
  19. drill — army training
  20. staff — employees
  21. leaves — of a tree
  22. staff — employees
  23. game — wild animals
  24. chest — of your body

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