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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. chest — a box
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. squash — the sport
  5. drill — the tool
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. cold — not warm
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. last — final
  10. drill — a practice
  11. chest — of your body
  12. squash — to crush
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. last — finally
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. last — to go on
  19. chest — of your body
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. game — a match
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. cold — an illness
  24. game — wild animals

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