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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. roll — a cake
  3. safe — a strongbox
  4. kid — to tease
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. fall — the season
  9. wake — a trail
  10. kid — child
  11. fall — to drop
  12. game — wild animals
  13. fall — to drop
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. game — a match
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. safe — out of danger
  20. snap — to click
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. roll — a list
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. mine — for digging

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