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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — a box
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bank — of a river
  6. mate — to breed
  7. cold — not warm
  8. mate — a friend
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. mate — a partner
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. wind — moving air
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. pass — a permit
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bank — for money
  20. game — wild animals
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. bank — for money
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. game — a match

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