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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. scale — size or range
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. mark — a trace
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. wound — an injury
  8. track — a path
  9. kid — child
  10. pitch — completely
  11. kid — to tease
  12. track — to keep track
  13. wound — an injury
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. file — a document
  16. file — a line of people
  17. mark — a grade
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. scale — in music
  20. file — a tool
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. track — a song

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