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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. rash — hasty
  5. drill — army training
  6. cap — a lid
  7. lean — thin
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. content — happy
  13. drill — the tool
  14. cap — a hat
  15. content — the amount
  16. drill — a practice
  17. snap — to click
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. lean — to bend
  20. bat — the animal
  21. rash — a series
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. cap — of ice

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