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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bear — the animal
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. file — a tool
  5. file — a line of people
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. file — a document
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. mine — for digging
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. pound — a weight
  12. sharp — clever
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bear — the animal
  18. chip — for betting
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. chip — to eat
  24. trunk — of a car

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