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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. row — a line
  3. mark — a grade
  4. cold — an illness
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. rule — a law
  7. court — of law
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. mark — a trace
  12. pit — in a race
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. pit — a hole
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. branch — a division
  17. rule — government
  18. cold — not warm
  19. court — of a king
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. snap — to click
  23. row — to paddle
  24. court — for sport

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