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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. snap — to click
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. firm — steady
  7. rash — hasty
  8. cold — not warm
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. kick — in football
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. rash — a series
  13. march — the month
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. spring — of water
  16. cold — an illness
  17. firm — a company
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. march — music
  20. firm — decided
  21. spring — the season
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. march — the month
  24. kick — a thrill

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