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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 120 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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. present — there
  5. wind — moving air
  6. snap — to click
  7. mate — a friend
  8. mate — to breed
  9. bulb — for light
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cold — an illness
  12. scale — in music
  13. cap — a hat
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cap — of ice
  16. mate — a partner
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. present — the time now
  19. bulb — for light
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. cap — a lid
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. present — a gift
  24. cold — the Cold War

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