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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. hand — help
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. wake — a trail
  6. drill — the tool
  7. swing — to play on
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. swing — music
  10. track — a path
  11. staff — employees
  12. hand — in cards
  13. swing — in golf
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. staff — a stick
  16. pit — in a race
  17. track — to keep track
  18. drill — a practice
  19. staff — employees
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. drill — army training
  23. pit — a hole
  24. track — a song

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