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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. key — the most important part
  5. rush — hurry
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. rash — hasty
  8. capital — money
  9. cold — not warm
  10. capital — a city
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. key — in music
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. key — for a lock
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bulb — for light
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. rash — a series
  24. cold — an illness

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