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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. cold — an illness
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. bore — to drill
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. wake — a trail
  9. cell — a phone
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. face — to point toward
  12. face — to confront
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. vault — a safe
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. bore — to tire
  18. cell — in biology
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. cold — not warm
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. face — part of the head

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