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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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. coach — pulled by horses
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. snap — to click
  6. content — happy
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. mug — a face
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. shower — to wash
  11. content — the amount
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — rain
  19. mug — to rob
  20. mug — a cup
  21. tube — a container
  22. tube — the underground
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — an illness

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