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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  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. snap — to snap out of it
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. file — a document
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. press — a publisher
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. press — to push
  11. file — a line of people
  12. bark — to shout
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. press — newspapers
  15. march — the month
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. file — a tool
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. bat — the animal
  21. sharp — clever
  22. snap — to click
  23. sharp — with an edge
  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