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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 124 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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. snap — to click
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. file — a line of people
  5. can — to be able to
  6. file — a document
  7. can — a tin
  8. cold — an illness
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. cold — not warm
  14. kick — in football
  15. file — a tool
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. can — a tin
  18. stock — goods
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. dip — to sink
  23. stock — shares
  24. cold — the Cold War

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