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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. last — finally
  3. last — to go on
  4. tear — from crying
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. file — a line of people
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. wake — a trail
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. pop — soda
  15. tear — to rip
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a document
  19. pop — to visit
  20. last — final
  21. tear — from crying
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. pop — music
  24. mouse — for a computer

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