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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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. cold — the Cold War
  3. capital — money
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. charge — electricity
  6. fine — all right
  7. pass — a permit
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. snap — to click
  13. sharp — clever
  14. cold — an illness
  15. fork — in a road
  16. charge — a price
  17. capital — a city
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. fine — high quality
  22. charge — in control
  23. cold — not warm
  24. pass — to spend time

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