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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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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 surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. stem — to come from
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. cold — an illness
  6. face — to point toward
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. pop — music
  11. cold — not warm
  12. pop — to visit
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. sharp — clever
  15. chair — a leader
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. snap — to click
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. face — to confront
  22. pop — soda
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. face — part of the head

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