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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. This piece is in a major ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. jam — a tight spot
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. wake — a trail
  5. club — a group
  6. tube — the underground
  7. key — for a lock
  8. key — in music
  9. club — for dancing
  10. chest — a box
  11. key — the most important part
  12. chest — of your body
  13. jam — to spread on bread
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. club — for golf
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. tube — a container
  19. cold — not warm
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. chest — of your body
  24. calf — a young animal

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