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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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. object — to protest
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. wind — moving air
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. sharp — clever
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. rule — a law
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. object — an aim
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. snap — to click
  16. rule — government
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. wound — an injury
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. kick — in football
  22. object — a thing
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wind — moving air

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