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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. snap — to click
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. lean — to bend
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. lean — thin
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. degree — temperature
  11. sharp — clever
  12. can — a tin
  13. degree — an amount
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. mine — for digging
  16. degree — from a university
  17. can — a tin
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. can — to be able to
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. bat — the animal
  24. sharp — exactly

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