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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. mark — a trace
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. pound — a weight
  5. lean — to bend
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. lean — thin
  8. squash — the sport
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. file — a line of people
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. mine — for digging
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. row — to paddle
  15. row — a line
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. file — a tool
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. squash — to crush
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. mark — a grade
  23. file — a document
  24. mine — an explosive

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