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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. cold — not warm
  3. rule — a law
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cue — a signal
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. shower — to wash
  12. shower — rain
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. cue — a hint
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. dip — to sink
  19. rule — government
  20. bat — the animal
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. cue — for pool
  23. wake — a trail
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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