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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 120 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 didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. pit — a hole
  5. wound — an injury
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. pit — in a race
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. cold — an illness
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. chest — of your body
  14. wake — a trail
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. board — a committee
  17. board — to get on
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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