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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cold — an illness
  4. lean — thin
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. degree — temperature
  7. snap — to click
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. suit — in cards
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. suit — to fit
  12. cold — not warm
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. degree — from a university
  15. suit — clothes
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. chest — a box
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. chest — of your body
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. degree — an amount
  23. lean — to bend
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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