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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.

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. shower — to wash
  4. bat — the animal
  5. shower — rain
  6. season — in sport
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. fine — high quality
  9. cold — not warm
  10. stand — for spectators
  11. hand — help
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. season — of the year
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. cold — an illness
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. fine — all right
  20. stand — to bear
  21. hand — in cards
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. stand — on your feet

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