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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The tickets are free of ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. charge — electricity
  4. chest — of your body
  5. game — wild animals
  6. deal — to handle
  7. squash — to crush
  8. game — a match
  9. charge — a price
  10. chest — of your body
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. squash — the sport
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. content — the amount
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. charge — in control
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. chest — a box
  23. content — happy
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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