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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. row — a line
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. ball — a dance
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. row — to paddle
  9. spell — letters
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. prune — to trim
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. prune — to trim
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. ball — a great time
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. spell — a short time
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. snap — to click
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. spell — magic

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