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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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. staff — employees
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. chip — to eat
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. ball — a dance
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. chip — for betting
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. degree — from a university
  13. spell — letters
  14. staff — employees
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. mine — for digging
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — temperature
  19. spell — magic
  20. staff — a stick
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. ball — a great time
  23. leaves — to go away
  24. spell — a short time

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