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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 ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. last — to go on
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. chest — of your body
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. chest — a box
  10. last — finally
  11. squash — to crush
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. dip — to sink
  14. cold — not warm
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. cold — an illness
  17. saw — the tool
  18. squash — the sport
  19. sharp — clever
  20. chest — of your body
  21. last — final
  22. saw — the tool
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. sharp — exactly

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