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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. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. march — the month
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. chip — to eat
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. drill — a practice
  8. cold — an illness
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. cue — a signal
  11. tube — the underground
  12. chip — for betting
  13. cue — a hint
  14. drill — the tool
  15. cold — not warm
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. cue — for pool
  23. drill — army training
  24. tube — a container

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