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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 124 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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. foot — a measure
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. fall — the season
  9. wound — an injury
  10. fall — to drop
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. foot — the bottom
  13. bat — the animal
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. wound — an injury
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. pound — a weight
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. foot — part of the body
  20. fall — to drop
  21. ground — the earth
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. ground — crushed
  24. ground — a position

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