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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 116 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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. net — for catching
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. net — in sport
  6. snap — to click
  7. race — the arms race
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. file — a document
  11. race — a contest
  12. race — humankind
  13. cue — for pool
  14. wake — a trail
  15. file — a line of people
  16. cue — a signal
  17. file — a tool
  18. net — after costs

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