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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. snap — to click
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. net — for catching
  6. cell — a phone
  7. pit — a hole
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. pit — in a race
  10. cap — a lid
  11. club — for dancing
  12. club — a group
  13. cap — of ice
  14. game — wild animals
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cap — a hat
  17. wake — a trail
  18. net — after costs
  19. club — for golf
  20. game — a match
  21. net — in sport
  22. cell — in biology
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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