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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. hand — in cards
  3. cold — not warm
  4. key — in music
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. cue — for pool
  8. cue — a signal
  9. key — the most important part
  10. chest — a box
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. key — for a lock
  13. cue — a hint
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. chest — of your body
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. hand — help
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. bat — the animal
  21. cold — an illness
  22. fork — in a road
  23. perch — the fish
  24. chest — of your body

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