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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. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. stand — to bear
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. face — to point toward
  6. face — to confront
  7. mark — a grade
  8. file — a document
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. cold — not warm
  12. key — the most important part
  13. face — part of the head
  14. file — a tool
  15. cold — an illness
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. file — a line of people
  21. mark — a trace
  22. key — in music
  23. key — for a lock
  24. pitcher — a jug

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