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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. ball — a great time
  4. key — for a lock
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. key — in music
  7. tear — to rip
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. bat — the animal
  13. key — the most important part
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. tear — from crying
  16. cold — not warm
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. kid — child
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. ball — a dance
  21. kid — to tease
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. tear — from crying

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