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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. cold — not warm
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. ball — a dance
  7. wave — a sudden rise
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. row — a line
  10. sharp — clever
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. cold — an illness
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. drill — army training
  17. row — to paddle
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. drill — the tool
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. drill — a practice
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. leaves — of a tree

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