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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. scale — size or range
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. cold — an illness
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. scale — in music
  9. cap — of ice
  10. fork — in a road
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. bore — to tire
  17. bore — to drill
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. cap — a hat
  20. cap — a lid
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. cold — not warm
  23. kick — in football
  24. straw — dry grass

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