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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. drill — a practice
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. mug — a face
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. drill — army training
  11. kid — to tease
  12. mug — a cup
  13. drill — the tool
  14. branch — a division
  15. mug — to rob
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. kid — child

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