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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. degree — temperature
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. degree — an amount
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. pass — a permit
  13. hand — in cards
  14. spring — of water
  15. roll — a list
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. degree — from a university
  19. roll — a cake
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. spring — the season
  23. foot — a measure
  24. spring — a coil

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