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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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. lean — thin
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. lean — to bend
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. sharp — clever
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. cold — an illness
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. file — a document
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. file — a line of people
  15. cold — not warm
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. wake — a trail
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. file — a tool
  21. toast — bread
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. snap — to click
  24. wake — before a funeral

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