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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. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — for a hammer
  2. swing — to play on
  3. rock — music
  4. snap — to click
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. march — the month
  7. saw — the tool
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. saw — the tool
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. march — music
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. cell — a phone
  14. rock — a stone
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. cell — in biology
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. march — the month
  23. swing — music
  24. swing — in golf

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