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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. last — finally
  4. drill — the tool
  5. drill — army training
  6. snap — to click
  7. fall — to drop
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. fall — to drop
  10. drill — a practice
  11. saw — the tool
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. net — for catching
  15. net — after costs
  16. net — in sport
  17. fall — the season
  18. last — to go on
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. saw — the tool
  21. cold — an illness
  22. kick — in football
  23. cold — not warm
  24. last — final

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