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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. cold — not warm
  5. wave — with your hand
  6. snap — to click
  7. fork — in a road
  8. cold — an illness
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. key — the most important part
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. key — in music
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. wave — a sudden rise
  16. wake — a trail
  17. mate — a friend
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. mate — to breed
  20. key — for a lock
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. mate — a partner
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. wake — before a funeral

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