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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. mine — for digging
  3. last — finally
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. hand — in cards
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. face — to point toward
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. game — wild animals
  10. last — final
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. game — a match
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. shower — rain
  15. last — to go on
  16. snap — to click
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. face — to confront
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. hand — help
  23. shower — to wash
  24. face — part of the head

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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