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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. kick — in football
  3. wind — moving air
  4. chest — a box
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. chip — to eat
  8. present — the time now
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. chest — of your body
  12. date — the fruit
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. wind — moving air
  15. present — there
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. present — a gift
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. chip — for betting
  21. chest — of your body
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. fan — a supporter

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