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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — an illness
  3. face — to confront
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. ground — a position
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. face — to point toward
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. cold — not warm
  12. ground — the earth
  13. face — part of the head
  14. mark — a grade
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. mark — a trace
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. chair — a leader
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. ground — crushed
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. wake — a trail

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