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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ruler · cold · bear · chest · snap · rest

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. rest — a break
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. cold — not warm
  5. bear — the animal
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bear — the animal
  12. chest — a box
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — what's left
  16. chest — of your body
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. chest — of your body

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