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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. lean — thin
  3. season — of the year
  4. season — in sport
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. ball — a dance
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. cold — an illness
  10. root — of a word
  11. snap — to click
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. ball — a great time
  16. lean — to bend
  17. track — a song
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. root — the cause
  20. root — of a plant
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. track — to keep track
  23. cold — not warm
  24. track — a path

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