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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. file — a document
  4. cell — a phone
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. row — a line
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. bass — the fish
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. row — to paddle
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. mug — a face
  16. snap — to click
  17. bass — low music
  18. kick — in football
  19. file — a line of people
  20. wake — a trail
  21. mug — to rob
  22. mug — a cup
  23. cell — in biology
  24. file — a tool

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