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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. Did you ________________ the button?
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. charge — a price
  5. charge — in control
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. date — the fruit
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. present — the time now
  12. charge — electricity
  13. press — to push
  14. march — the month
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. present — a gift
  17. press — a publisher
  18. present — there
  19. wake — a trail
  20. snap — to click
  21. march — music
  22. press — newspapers
  23. bat — the animal
  24. march — the month

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