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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. We're on a ________________ here.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. roll — a list
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. last — final
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. bank — for money
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. roll — on a roll
  12. row — to paddle
  13. last — to go on
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. wound — an injury
  16. roll — a cake
  17. mine — for digging
  18. row — a line
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. snap — to click
  21. last — finally
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. bank — of a river
  24. bank — for money

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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