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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: tube · cold · snap · chest · fall · key · bore · lie

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. chest — of your body
  3. fall — the season
  4. bore — to drill
  5. tube — the underground
  6. fall — to drop
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. cold — an illness
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. key — in music
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bore — to tire
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. lie — to recline
  17. cold — not warm
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. tube — a container
  20. fall — to drop
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. chest — a box
  23. key — the most important part
  24. key — for a lock

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