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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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. snap — to speak sharply
  3. stand — for spectators
  4. game — a match
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. mine — for digging
  8. can — to be able to
  9. wind — moving air
  10. kid — child
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. game — wild animals
  14. stand — to bear
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. can — a tin
  21. kid — to tease
  22. can — a tin
  23. snap — to click
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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