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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 120 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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. last — final
  3. board — to get on
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. cold — not warm
  6. scale — size or range
  7. lie — to recline
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. tear — from crying
  12. tear — to rip
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. board — a committee
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. scale — in music
  19. snap — to click
  20. last — finally
  21. tear — from crying
  22. deal — to handle
  23. cold — an illness
  24. last — to go on

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