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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. march — the month
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. bark — to shout
  16. tube — the underground
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. bat — the animal
  19. deal — to handle
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. tube — a container
  24. bark — of a tree

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