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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. present — the time now
  3. last — finally
  4. cold — not warm
  5. last — to go on
  6. present — there
  7. fine — high quality
  8. chest — a box
  9. chest — of your body
  10. club — for golf
  11. fall — to drop
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. fall — to drop
  14. club — a group
  15. chest — of your body
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. last — final
  19. fine — all right
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. wake — a trail
  22. present — a gift
  23. fall — the season
  24. cold — an illness

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