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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. sharp — clever
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. cell — in biology
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. row — to paddle
  11. row — a line
  12. snap — to click
  13. scale — size or range
  14. press — newspapers
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. saw — the tool
  19. press — to push
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. scale — in music
  22. cell — a phone
  23. press — a publisher
  24. scale — for weighing

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