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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. cold — not warm
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. ball — a great time
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. bulb — for light
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. ball — a dance
  10. fall — to drop
  11. spell — magic
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. spell — letters
  16. cold — an illness
  17. bulb — for light
  18. fall — the season
  19. snap — to click
  20. spell — a short time
  21. fall — to drop
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. cold — the Cold War

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