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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. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. key — for a lock
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. bat — the animal
  5. key — the most important part
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. net — for catching
  8. cold — an illness
  9. key — in music
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. net — in sport
  13. row — to paddle
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. chest — of your body
  16. wave — with your hand
  17. chest — a box
  18. cold — not warm
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. net — after costs
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. chest — of your body
  24. row — a line

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