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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. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. tear — to rip
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. rash — hasty
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. ball — a great time
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. pass — a permit
  14. ball — a dance
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. rash — a series
  18. tear — from crying
  19. vault — a safe
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. tear — from crying
  23. kick — in football
  24. ball — a round shape

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