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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 120 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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. file — a line of people
  3. band — a music group
  4. pop — music
  5. mug — a face
  6. mug — a cup
  7. file — a tool
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. prune — to trim
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. file — a document
  12. prune — to trim
  13. pop — soda
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. fork — in a road
  17. mug — to rob
  18. row — a line
  19. pop — to visit
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. row — to paddle
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. band — a ring

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