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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 116 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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. mug — to rob
  3. snap — to click
  4. tube — a container
  5. staff — employees
  6. march — music
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. bat — the animal
  11. mug — a cup
  12. sharp — clever
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. game — wild animals
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. staff — employees
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. game — a match
  20. mug — a face
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. tube — the underground

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