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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. season — of the year
  3. track — to keep track
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. cold — an illness
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. chair — a leader
  8. squash — to crush
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. track — a song
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. cold — not warm
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. season — in sport
  19. track — a path
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. squash — the sport
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. snap — to click

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