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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. suit — to fit
  3. snap — to click
  4. cue — for pool
  5. net — after costs
  6. net — for catching
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cue — a hint
  9. cold — not warm
  10. court — of law
  11. cold — an illness
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. court — for sport
  14. cue — a signal
  15. court — of a king
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. march — music
  18. suit — in cards
  19. net — in sport
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. branch — a division
  22. march — the month
  23. suit — clothes
  24. march — the month

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