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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. last — finally
  3. march — the month
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. hand — in cards
  6. net — for catching
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. march — music
  9. snap — to click
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. bound — tied together
  14. net — after costs
  15. bound — certain
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. rash — hasty
  18. last — to go on
  19. hand — help
  20. bound — obliged
  21. march — the month
  22. net — in sport
  23. rash — a series
  24. last — final

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