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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. spring — the season
  6. fall — the season
  7. chair — a leader
  8. fall — to drop
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. game — wild animals
  16. snap — to click
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — a coil
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. fall — to drop
  23. deal — to handle
  24. sharp — clever

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