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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bass — low music
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. lean — thin
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. cold — an illness
  11. root — of a plant
  12. root — the cause
  13. bass — the fish
  14. degree — an amount
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. cold — not warm
  18. lean — to bend
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. root — of a word
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — temperature
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. lean — to rest against

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