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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  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. present — a gift
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. pop — to visit
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. deal — to handle
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. present — there
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. pop — soda
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. snap — to click
  16. lean — thin
  17. shower — to wash
  18. present — the time now
  19. lean — to bend
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. bat — the animal
  22. shower — rain
  23. pop — music
  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