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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. snap — to click
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wax — to grow
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. pop — soda
  7. drill — a practice
  8. prune — to trim
  9. pop — music
  10. kick — in football
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. mark — a trace
  14. mark — a grade
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. prune — to trim
  19. drill — the tool
  20. cold — not warm
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. pop — to visit
  24. drill — army training

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