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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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. present — there
  3. chest — a box
  4. cold — not warm
  5. chest — of your body
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. present — a gift
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. cold — an illness
  11. present — the time now
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. fall — the season
  14. wax — to grow
  15. chest — of your body
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. fall — to drop
  18. fall — to drop
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. row — a line
  21. pitch — completely
  22. row — to paddle
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. wax — in the ear

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