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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 116 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. The water is too ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. mark — a grade
  3. object — an aim
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. snap — to click
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. object — to protest
  14. kick — in football
  15. object — a thing
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. bat — the animal
  19. wake — a trail
  20. cold — an illness
  21. mark — a trace
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. bat — in an idiom

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