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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. ground — crushed
  3. march — the month
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. wound — an injury
  6. race — humankind
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. perch — the fish
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. ground — the earth
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. ground — a position
  17. race — the arms race
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. march — music
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. race — a contest
  22. wound — an injury
  23. march — the month
  24. perch — for a bird

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