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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. club — for dancing
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. chest — of your body
  6. face — to point toward
  7. club — a group
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. face — to confront
  10. bear — the animal
  11. club — for golf
  12. season — of the year
  13. cold — not warm
  14. bear — the animal
  15. chest — of your body
  16. face — part of the head
  17. chest — a box
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. kid — to tease
  20. season — in sport
  21. pop — to visit
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. pop — music

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