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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 120 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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. track — a song
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. pop — soda
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. wound — an injury
  12. track — to keep track
  13. squash — to crush
  14. wake — a trail
  15. track — a path
  16. squash — the sport
  17. pop — to visit
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. snap — to click
  20. cold — not warm
  21. cold — an illness
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. pop — music

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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