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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. snap — to click
  4. present — a gift
  5. cell — a phone
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. foot — a measure
  13. present — there
  14. land — ground
  15. land — a country
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. prune — to trim
  18. sharp — clever
  19. present — the time now
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. cell — in biology
  23. wake — a trail
  24. wake — before a funeral

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