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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. cold — not warm
  3. snap — to click
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. net — in sport
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. spell — a short time
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. lean — to bend
  10. net — after costs
  11. spell — letters
  12. bowl — a dish
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. net — for catching
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. bat — the animal
  19. lean — thin
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. bowl — a football final
  24. spell — magic

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