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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. staff — employees
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. hand — in cards
  5. hand — help
  6. mug — to rob
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. mug — a face
  10. kid — child
  11. cap — a hat
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. staff — employees
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. cap — a lid
  17. wave — of the sea
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. mug — a cup
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. bat — the animal
  23. staff — a stick
  24. snap — to click

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