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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. snap — to click
  4. can — to be able to
  5. cell — a phone
  6. can — a tin
  7. cue — a signal
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. can — a tin
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. swing — in golf
  16. cell — in biology
  17. cue — a hint
  18. stock — shares
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. stock — goods
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. mine — for digging
  23. cue — for pool
  24. swing — music

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