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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. snap — to click
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. lean — to bend
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. wind — moving air
  8. hand — help
  9. ground — crushed
  10. pitch — completely
  11. hand — in cards
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. lean — thin
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. rule — government
  20. wind — moving air
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. ground — a position
  24. ground — the earth

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