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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. wake — a trail
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. track — to keep track
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wound — an injury
  10. rule — government
  11. roll — a list
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. cold — an illness
  15. snap — to click
  16. wound — an injury
  17. roll — a cake
  18. rule — a law
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. track — a song
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. track — a path
  24. cold — not warm

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