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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. rash — hasty
  3. craft — boats
  4. snap — to click
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. cold — an illness
  16. craft — a skill
  17. cold — not warm
  18. wake — a trail
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. band — a ring
  22. rash — a series
  23. rush — hurry
  24. band — a music group

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