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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. plane — a tool
  4. fall — to drop
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. degree — from a university
  8. degree — temperature
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. fall — the season
  11. degree — an amount
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. chest — a box
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. chest — of your body
  16. fall — to drop
  17. cap — a lid
  18. stand — to bear
  19. cap — a hat
  20. cap — of ice
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — an illness
  24. chest — of your body

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