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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. net — for catching
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. net — in sport
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. chest — of your body
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. kick — in football
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. cold — an illness
  18. chest — a box
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. net — after costs
  22. chest — of your body
  23. stem — to come from
  24. racket — for tennis

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