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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. snap — to click
  4. last — final
  5. roll — a list
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. object — a thing
  8. chest — a box
  9. roll — a cake
  10. rash — a series
  11. rash — hasty
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. object — to protest
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. last — to go on
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. stand — to bear
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. chest — of your body
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. object — an aim
  22. chest — of your body
  23. shower — rain
  24. last — finally

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