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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. wound — an injury
  3. shower — rain
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. bass — low music
  7. mug — to rob
  8. mark — a grade
  9. wind — moving air
  10. field — for sport
  11. wound — an injury
  12. mug — a face
  13. mark — to pay attention
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. field — farmland
  16. bass — the fish
  17. shower — to wash
  18. wind — moving air
  19. field — a subject
  20. mug — a cup
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. mark — a trace
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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