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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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. march — the month
  3. kid — child
  4. spring — the season
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. ball — a great time
  8. snap — to click
  9. ball — a dance
  10. perch — the fish
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. kid — to tease
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. march — music
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. spring — a coil
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. march — the month
  22. sharp — clever
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. spring — of water

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