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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. When will it ________________ you to start?
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. present — there
  3. suit — to fit
  4. fall — the season
  5. present — the time now
  6. present — a gift
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. file — a document
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. suit — in cards
  11. file — a tool
  12. snap — to click
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. cold — not warm
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. suit — clothes
  18. march — the month
  19. march — music
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fall — to drop
  22. file — a line of people
  23. fall — to drop
  24. march — the month

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