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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. ground — the earth
  4. ground — a position
  5. pitch — completely
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. rest — what's left
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. rest — what's left
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. saw — the tool
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. saw — the tool
  16. kid — to tease
  17. wound — an injury
  18. rest — a break
  19. ground — crushed
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. wound — an injury
  23. kid — child
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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