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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 116 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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. snap — to click
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. tube — the underground
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. cold — not warm
  10. sharp — clever
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. prune — to trim
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. prune — to trim
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. cold — an illness
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. tube — a container
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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