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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. rule — government
  3. vault — a safe
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. can — to be able to
  6. row — a line
  7. pitch — completely
  8. can — a tin
  9. shower — rain
  10. chest — of your body
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. chest — of your body
  15. shower — to wash
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. vault — in gymnastics
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. rule — a law
  21. row — to paddle
  22. snap — to click
  23. can — a tin
  24. chest — a box

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