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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. This piece is in a major ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. key — the most important part
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. ground — the earth
  7. chest — a box
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. key — for a lock
  10. key — in music
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. cold — not warm
  14. spring — of water
  15. craft — a skill
  16. ground — crushed
  17. craft — boats
  18. ground — a position
  19. bat — the animal
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. spring — the season
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. spring — a coil
  24. lash — an eyelash

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