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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. chest — of your body
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. degree — temperature
  7. tube — a container
  8. snap — to click
  9. pound — a weight
  10. saw — the tool
  11. lean — thin
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. tube — the underground
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. rush — hurry
  16. degree — from a university
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. saw — the tool
  20. lean — to bend
  21. pound — to hit hard
  22. degree — an amount
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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