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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. snap — to click
  3. pit — in a race
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. rash — hasty
  6. pit — a hole
  7. season — in sport
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. chest — of your body
  10. land — ground
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. land — a country
  13. season — of the year
  14. ball — a great time
  15. land — to come down
  16. chest — of your body
  17. ball — a dance
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. rash — a series
  21. bark — to shout
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. chest — a box
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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