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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. snap — to click
  4. sharp — clever
  5. scale — in music
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. bulb — for light
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. kid — child
  11. march — the month
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. stem — to come from
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. bulb — for light
  20. scale — size or range
  21. rush — hurry
  22. march — music
  23. march — the month
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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