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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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. snap — to speak sharply
  3. bay — a part of the sea
  4. chest — of your body
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. chest — of your body
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. season — of the year
  10. spring — a coil
  11. snap — to click
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. spring — the season
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. chest — a box
  17. wind — moving air
  18. spring — of water
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. season — in sport
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. wind — moving air
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. wind — to turn a key

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