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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 I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. tear — from crying
  4. pound — a weight
  5. race — humankind
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. tube — the underground
  9. rush — hurry
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. tube — a container
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. tear — from crying
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. board — a committee
  17. perch — the fish
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. race — a contest
  20. race — the arms race
  21. tear — to rip
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. board — to get on

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