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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. bore — to drill
  4. deal — to handle
  5. row — a line
  6. row — to paddle
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. drill — army training
  9. game — a match
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. pitch — completely
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. drill — a practice
  16. wind — moving air
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. bore — to tire
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. drill — the tool
  22. wind — moving air
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. game — wild animals

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