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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. toast — bread
  3. rush — hurry
  4. club — for dancing
  5. fall — to drop
  6. snap — to click
  7. sharp — clever
  8. row — a line
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. fall — the season
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. fall — to drop
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. club — a group
  20. chip — to eat
  21. club — for golf
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. chip — for betting
  24. row — to paddle

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