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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 soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. fall — the season
  3. last — final
  4. fall — to drop
  5. cell — in biology
  6. drill — the tool
  7. last — to go on
  8. last — finally
  9. fall — to drop
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. drill — a practice
  12. scale — in music
  13. present — a gift
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. present — the time now
  16. present — there
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. game — wild animals
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. cell — a phone
  22. snap — to click
  23. game — a match
  24. scale — size or range

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