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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. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — with your hand
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — a box
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. ground — the earth
  11. fall — the season
  12. file — a tool
  13. ground — a position
  14. cue — for pool
  15. file — a document
  16. file — a line of people
  17. ground — crushed
  18. chest — of your body
  19. cue — a signal
  20. plane — a tool
  21. cue — a hint
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fall — to drop
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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