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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. drill — the tool
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. content — the amount
  11. last — to go on
  12. ball — a dance
  13. last — finally
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. content — happy
  16. ball — a great time
  17. bat — the animal
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. last — final
  21. drill — army training
  22. rush — hurry
  23. bark — to shout
  24. drill — a practice

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