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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 ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. snap — to click
  3. cold — not warm
  4. rest — a break
  5. key — the most important part
  6. ground — the earth
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. ground — a position
  9. rest — what's left
  10. cold — an illness
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. key — for a lock
  13. spring — a coil
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. key — in music
  16. ground — crushed
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. lean — to bend
  20. spring — of water
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. spring — the season
  23. lean — thin
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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