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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. rule — government
  4. mate — a partner
  5. chest — a box
  6. file — a line of people
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. file — a document
  9. chest — of your body
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. chip — to eat
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. file — a tool
  15. chest — of your body
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. chair — a leader
  21. mate — to breed
  22. chip — for betting
  23. rule — a law
  24. mate — a friend

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