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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. club — for golf
  3. hand — in cards
  4. tear — from crying
  5. fine — high quality
  6. club — a group
  7. hand — help
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. cold — an illness
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. tear — to rip
  12. club — for dancing
  13. chest — a box
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. chest — of your body
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. wake — a trail
  19. chest — of your body
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. cold — not warm
  22. fine — all right
  23. foot — a measure
  24. cold — the Cold War

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