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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 124 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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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 — a trainer
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. fall — to drop
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. spring — a coil
  8. fall — to drop
  9. spring — the season
  10. fall — the season
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. spring — of water
  18. row — a line
  19. snap — to click
  20. pitch — completely
  21. ground — the earth
  22. row — to paddle
  23. ground — a position
  24. ground — crushed

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