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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 120 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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. current — of water
  5. band — a music group
  6. hand — in cards
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — child
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. wake — a trail
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. current — electric
  13. net — in sport
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. net — after costs
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. kid — to tease
  20. band — a ring
  21. deal — to handle
  22. current — happening now
  23. hand — help
  24. net — for catching

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