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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. staff — a stick
  3. snap — to click
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. season — of the year
  6. degree — temperature
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. degree — from a university
  9. last — final
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. wind — moving air
  13. last — finally
  14. last — to go on
  15. staff — employees
  16. season — in sport
  17. wind — moving air
  18. staff — employees
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. degree — an amount
  23. kid — child
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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