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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. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. track — a path
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. track — a song
  5. snap — to click
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. land — to come down
  8. cold — not warm
  9. lean — thin
  10. land — a country
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. scale — in music
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. track — to keep track
  17. lean — to bend
  18. scale — size or range
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. cold — an illness
  24. land — ground

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