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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 are we going to ________________?
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Did you ________________ the meat?
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. snap — to click
  3. present — there
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pit — a hole
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. season — to add flavour
  8. scale — in music
  9. land — ground
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bound — certain
  14. present — the time now
  15. scale — size or range
  16. season — of the year
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. land — a country
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. bound — obliged
  21. bound — tied together
  22. pit — in a race
  23. present — a gift
  24. season — in sport

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