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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. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. vault — an arched ceiling
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. squash — to crush
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. pop — music
  8. vault — a safe
  9. wind — moving air
  10. hand — in cards
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a line of people
  13. squash — the sport
  14. file — a tool
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. march — the month
  17. march — the month
  18. snap — to click
  19. wind — moving air
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. hand — help
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. pop — soda
  24. march — music

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