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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. wake — a trail
  4. land — to come down
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wake — to stop sleeping
  9. land — a country
  10. mark — a trace
  11. rule — government
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. board — to get on
  14. cold — not warm
  15. rule — a law
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. board — a committee
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. mark — a grade
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. land — ground
  24. perch — the fish

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