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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. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. cold — not warm
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. root — the cause
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. perch — the fish
  9. cold — an illness
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. root — of a word
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. mine — for digging
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. tube — a container
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. root — of a plant
  22. lie — to recline
  23. tube — the underground
  24. bowl — a football final

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