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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. snap — to click
  3. cell — in biology
  4. last — finally
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. chair — a leader
  7. key — for a lock
  8. cell — a phone
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. prune — to trim
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. key — the most important part
  16. prune — to trim
  17. last — to go on
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. pound — a weight
  22. key — in music
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. last — final

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