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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. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. row — a line
  6. game — a match
  7. prune — to trim
  8. row — to paddle
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. wound — an injury
  11. current — happening now
  12. kick — in football
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. current — of water
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. wound — an injury
  17. stand — to bear
  18. current — electric
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. prune — to trim
  22. game — wild animals
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. game — a kind of play

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