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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. bound — tied together
  3. hand — help
  4. march — music
  5. cold — an illness
  6. snap — to click
  7. march — the month
  8. hand — in cards
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. march — the month
  12. bound — obliged
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. fine — high quality
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bound — certain
  20. chair — a leader
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. fine — all right
  23. cold — not warm
  24. cold — the Cold War

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