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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. cap — a lid
  3. key — in music
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. swing — to play on
  7. cold — an illness
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. hand — in cards
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. cap — of ice
  14. swing — music
  15. cap — a hat
  16. key — the most important part
  17. swing — in golf
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. cell — in biology
  20. hand — help
  21. cell — a phone
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. key — for a lock
  24. cold — not warm

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