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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. rash — a series
  7. march — music
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. mine — for digging
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. wound — an injury
  12. degree — temperature
  13. march — the month
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. snap — to click
  17. degree — from a university
  18. pit — in a race
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. wound — an injury
  21. pit — a hole
  22. march — the month
  23. degree — an amount
  24. mouse — the animal

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