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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. file — a line of people
  7. band — a music group
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. game — wild animals
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. perch — the fish
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. game — a match
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. file — a tool
  18. band — a ring
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. face — part of the head
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. face — to confront
  23. file — a document
  24. face — to point toward

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