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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 116 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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. wind — moving air
  3. vault — a safe
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. present — there
  8. wound — an injury
  9. drill — army training
  10. drill — the tool
  11. wind — moving air
  12. mug — a face
  13. mug — a cup
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. mug — to rob
  16. wound — an injury
  17. drill — a practice
  18. sharp — clever
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. present — the time now
  21. present — a gift
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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