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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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. snap — to click
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bulb — for light
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. shower — rain
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. cell — in biology
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. bulb — for light
  14. shower — to wash
  15. band — a music group
  16. cell — a phone
  17. cold — not warm
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. scale — in music
  20. band — a ring
  21. scale — size or range
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. dip — to sink
  24. dip — a sauce

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