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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. net — after costs
  4. march — the month
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. snap — to click
  8. firm — decided
  9. cold — not warm
  10. swing — in golf
  11. firm — a company
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. net — for catching
  15. cold — an illness
  16. firm — steady
  17. stem — to come from
  18. swing — music
  19. swing — to play on
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. net — in sport
  24. scale — in music

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