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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. cell — a phone
  3. last — to go on
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. cold — an illness
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. club — a group
  8. sharp — clever
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. cell — in biology
  11. ball — a dance
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. last — finally
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. hand — in cards
  17. club — for golf
  18. last — final
  19. cold — not warm
  20. club — for dancing
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. ball — a great time
  24. wave — with your hand

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