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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. cap — a lid
  3. wound — an injury
  4. key — for a lock
  5. key — in music
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cold — not warm
  8. march — music
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. lean — thin
  11. march — the month
  12. last — finally
  13. key — the most important part
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. wound — an injury
  16. march — the month
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. last — final
  20. last — to go on
  21. lean — to bend
  22. cap — a hat
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. cold — the Cold War

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