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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. cue — a hint
  3. present — there
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. land — to come down
  7. land — ground
  8. wound — an injury
  9. snap — to click
  10. present — a gift
  11. cue — a signal
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bound — obliged
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bound — tied together
  16. sharp — clever
  17. bound — certain
  18. land — a country
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. present — the time now
  21. cue — for pool
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. bat — the animal
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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