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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  5. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. cue — a signal
  4. sharp — clever
  5. rock — music
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. scale — in music
  9. capital — money
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. cue — for pool
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — not warm
  16. rock — a stone
  17. scale — size or range
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cue — a hint
  21. capital — a city
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. rock — to move gently

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