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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. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. wind — moving air
  3. mug — to rob
  4. mine — for digging
  5. march — the month
  6. mug — a face
  7. scale — size or range
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. mug — a cup
  10. bark — to shout
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. scale — in music
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. wind — moving air
  16. march — the month
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. march — music
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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