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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 have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. prune — to trim
  7. kick — in football
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. cold — not warm
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. bat — the animal
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. fine — all right
  19. prune — to trim
  20. fine — high quality
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. snap — to click
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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