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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 116 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. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. spring — of water
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. deal — to handle
  6. spring — the season
  7. bat — the animal
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. wind — moving air
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. march — the month
  16. wind — moving air
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. spring — a coil
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. snap — to click
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. pitch — completely

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