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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. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. club — for golf
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. snap — to click
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wound — an injury
  7. degree — from a university
  8. club — for dancing
  9. chest — a box
  10. degree — an amount
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. drill — army training
  16. degree — temperature
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — to trim
  20. wake — a trail
  21. drill — the tool
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. club — a group
  24. wound — an injury

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