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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 116 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 play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  9. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  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. bass — the instrument
  3. snap — to click
  4. bass — the fish
  5. suit — to fit
  6. spell — a short time
  7. cold — not warm
  8. suit — clothes
  9. suit — in cards
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bass — low music
  12. chip — to eat
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. scale — in music
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. chip — for betting
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — an illness
  22. spell — letters
  23. scale — size or range
  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