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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. snap — to click
  3. rash — hasty
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. swing — to play on
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. mate — to breed
  8. rest — what's left
  9. mate — a partner
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. cue — a signal
  12. present — there
  13. wind — moving air
  14. rash — a series
  15. cue — for pool
  16. rest — what's left
  17. present — the time now
  18. swing — music
  19. cue — a hint
  20. rest — a break
  21. wind — moving air
  22. present — a gift
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. swing — in golf

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