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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 120 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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. net — in sport
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. board — a committee
  5. key — the most important part
  6. chest — a box
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. wake — a trail
  9. bear — the animal
  10. net — after costs
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. chest — of your body
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. chest — of your body
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. bear — the animal
  18. board — to get on
  19. key — for a lock
  20. key — in music
  21. snap — to click
  22. net — for catching
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. cold — an illness

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