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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. chest — of your body
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. pop — music
  8. pop — soda
  9. cell — in biology
  10. can — to be able to
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. can — a tin
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cell — a phone
  15. march — the month
  16. wax — to grow
  17. can — a tin
  18. chest — a box
  19. march — music
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. deal — to handle
  22. march — the month
  23. deal — a big deal
  24. pop — to visit

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