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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. charge — a price
  4. fall — to drop
  5. race — humankind
  6. snap — to click
  7. mark — a trace
  8. fall — to drop
  9. pit — a hole
  10. game — wild animals
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. mark — a grade
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. charge — electricity
  15. race — a contest
  16. squash — the sport
  17. race — the arms race
  18. fall — the season
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. pit — in a race
  21. charge — in control
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. squash — to crush
  24. game — a match

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