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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. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. cold — not warm
  7. field — a subject
  8. chest — of your body
  9. ground — crushed
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. field — farmland
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. ground — the earth
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. row — a line
  16. ground — a position
  17. chest — a box
  18. row — to paddle
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chair — a leader
  24. field — for sport

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