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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 shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. snap — to click
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. file — a tool
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. file — a line of people
  7. fall — to drop
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. bank — for money
  11. file — a document
  12. bank — for money
  13. rush — hurry
  14. fall — to drop
  15. bank — of a river
  16. kick — in football
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. fall — the season
  21. mine — for digging
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. chair — a leader
  24. mine — belonging to me

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