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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. cap — of ice
  3. snap — to click
  4. shower — rain
  5. fine — high quality
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. last — to go on
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. lean — thin
  11. shower — to wash
  12. lean — to bend
  13. last — final
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. rash — a series
  17. cap — a hat
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. rash — hasty
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. fine — all right
  23. cap — a lid
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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