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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. fall — the season
  4. squash — to crush
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. fall — to drop
  7. court — of a king
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. chair — a leader
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. craft — a skill
  12. fall — to drop
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. craft — boats
  16. land — ground
  17. court — of law
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. squash — the sport
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. court — for sport
  23. land — a country
  24. land — to come down

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