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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. ball — a great time
  3. cold — an illness
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. wake — a trail
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. snap — to click
  18. sharp — clever
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. stand — to bear
  22. ball — a dance
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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