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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. ground — a position
  4. wave — with your hand
  5. key — for a lock
  6. rash — a series
  7. ground — crushed
  8. key — the most important part
  9. cold — an illness
  10. chair — a leader
  11. pop — soda
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. key — in music
  16. ground — the earth
  17. pop — music
  18. bark — to shout
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pop — to visit
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. wave — of the sea

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