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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. roll — a list
  4. shower — rain
  5. mark — a grade
  6. snap — to click
  7. key — the most important part
  8. roll — a cake
  9. cell — in biology
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. capital — a city
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. key — in music
  17. cell — a phone
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. capital — money
  20. key — for a lock
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. mark — a trace
  23. shower — to wash
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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