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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: object · cold · land · key · cell · snap · racket · stand

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. object — a thing
  3. land — ground
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. key — in music
  6. object — an aim
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. object — to protest
  9. cold — an illness
  10. key — the most important part
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — not warm
  14. cell — a phone
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. snap — to click
  17. key — for a lock
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. stand — to bear
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. land — to come down
  22. land — a country
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. cell — in biology

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