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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. lean — to bend
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. chest — of your body
  6. lean — thin
  7. cold — not warm
  8. chest — of your body
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. cold — an illness
  12. deal — to handle
  13. band — a ring
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. chest — a box
  16. hand — help
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. bore — to tire
  19. hand — in cards
  20. bore — to drill
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. band — a music group
  24. lean — to rest against

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