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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 116 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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. When will it ________________ you to start?
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. march — the month
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. march — music
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. ball — a great time
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. lie — to recline
  10. cold — an illness
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. suit — clothes
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. cold — not warm
  16. march — the month
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. suit — to fit
  22. ball — a dance
  23. suit — in cards
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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