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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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. band — a music group
  3. club — for golf
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. snap — to click
  7. club — for dancing
  8. shower — to wash
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. chip — to eat
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. cold — an illness
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. chair — a leader
  21. band — a ring
  22. chip — for betting
  23. shower — rain
  24. club — a group

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