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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. chest — of your body
  3. can — a tin
  4. cold — an illness
  5. chest — of your body
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. sharp — clever
  8. mate — to breed
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. spell — magic
  11. chest — a box
  12. spell — a short time
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. plane — a tool
  16. mate — a partner
  17. cold — not warm
  18. mate — a friend
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. plane — in geometry
  21. can — to be able to
  22. can — a tin
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. sharp — exactly

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