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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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468
Word bank
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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. dip — to sink
  7. wind — moving air
  8. spell — letters
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. spring — the season
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. spell — magic
  13. spell — a short time
  14. spring — of water
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. wind — moving air
  17. cold — not warm
  18. key — in music
  19. cell — in biology
  20. spring — a coil
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. cold — an illness
  23. key — the most important part
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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