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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 124 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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. drill — the tool
  3. craft — a skill
  4. craft — boats
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. spring — a coil
  7. pit — a hole
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. chest — a box
  10. board — a committee
  11. band — a ring
  12. drill — army training
  13. spring — of water
  14. pit — in a race
  15. board — to get on
  16. drill — a practice
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. spring — the season
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. band — a music group
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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