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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. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. vault — a safe
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. field — farmland
  5. pass — a permit
  6. cue — a signal
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. vault — an arched ceiling
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. race — the arms race
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. field — for sport
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. cue — a hint
  16. row — to paddle
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. row — a line
  19. cue — for pool
  20. field — a subject
  21. race — a contest
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — the animal
  24. race — humankind

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