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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  8. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. rush — hurry
  3. cold — not warm
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. mate — a friend
  7. deal — to handle
  8. current — of water
  9. cell — in biology
  10. current — happening now
  11. mate — to breed
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cell — a phone
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. mate — a partner
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. snap — to click
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. cold — an illness
  24. current — electric

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