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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. drill — army training
  3. degree — from a university
  4. lie — to recline
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. degree — temperature
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. drill — the tool
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. drill — a practice
  16. degree — an amount
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. calf — a young animal

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