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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. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. rule — a law
  4. bear — the animal
  5. shower — rain
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. shower — to wash
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. cold — an illness
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. wax — to grow
  15. stand — to bear
  16. cold — not warm
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. bear — the animal
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. rule — government
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. stand — for spectators
  24. wax — for sculpting

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