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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. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Have you met the new head ________________?
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — a break
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. snap — to click
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. mark — a trace
  6. wound — an injury
  7. cold — an illness
  8. rest — what's left
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. bass — low music
  13. dip — to sink
  14. mark — a grade
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. bass — the fish
  20. wound — an injury
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. rest — what's left
  24. dip — a sauce

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