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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. march — music
  3. degree — from a university
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. chest — of your body
  7. degree — an amount
  8. chest — of your body
  9. last — final
  10. bear — the animal
  11. march — the month
  12. staff — employees
  13. last — to go on
  14. chest — a box
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. march — the month
  19. staff — a stick
  20. staff — employees
  21. bear — to put up with
  22. degree — temperature
  23. bear — the animal
  24. last — finally

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