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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. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. shower — rain
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. spring — the season
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. hand — help
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. last — finally
  12. last — final
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. pitch — completely
  16. shower — to wash
  17. spring — of water
  18. last — to go on
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. snap — to click
  21. hand — in cards
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. spring — a coil

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