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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. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. current — electric
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. content — happy
  11. bat — the animal
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. rush — hurry
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. cold — not warm
  18. current — of water
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. content — the amount
  21. cold — an illness
  22. current — happening now
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. leaves — 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