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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. snap — to click
  3. object — an aim
  4. rest — a break
  5. object — to protest
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. net — for catching
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. stem — to come from
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. rest — what's left
  12. pop — to visit
  13. object — a thing
  14. game — a match
  15. wound — an injury
  16. net — after costs
  17. net — in sport
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. rest — what's left
  20. wound — an injury
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. game — wild animals
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. pop — music

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