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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. foot — a measure
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. march — the month
  11. cell — in biology
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. content — the amount
  15. spring — a coil
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. march — the month
  18. spring — the season
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. march — music
  21. content — happy
  22. lie — to recline
  23. spring — of water
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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