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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. club — a group
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. shower — to wash
  8. present — a gift
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. kick — in football
  13. club — for golf
  14. club — for dancing
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. cell — in biology
  17. present — the time now
  18. shower — rain
  19. chest — a box
  20. cell — a phone
  21. chest — of your body
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. present — there
  24. chest — of your body

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