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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. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — a sudden rise
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. wound — an injury
  5. chest — a box
  6. craft — boats
  7. wound — an injury
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cell — a phone
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. wave — of the sea
  15. chest — of your body
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cell — in biology
  20. craft — a skill
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. racket — for tennis

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