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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 I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. scale — in music
  5. scale — size or range
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. last — to go on
  8. last — final
  9. cue — for pool
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. wind — moving air
  13. content — happy
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. cue — a signal
  16. wind — moving air
  17. bat — the animal
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. cell — a phone
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. content — the amount
  22. last — finally
  23. cue — a hint
  24. cell — in biology

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