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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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468
Word bank
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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. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  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 click
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. cold — not warm
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. pitch — completely
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. fine — high quality
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. wound — an injury
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. fine — all right
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. cold — an illness
  20. wound — an injury
  21. fork — in a road
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. temple — a place of worship
  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