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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. He is an ace ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. cell — a phone
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — in baseball
  10. mark — a trace
  11. mate — a partner
  12. capital — a city
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. capital — money
  15. cell — in biology
  16. mate — a friend
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. mark — a grade
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. shower — rain
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. mate — to breed
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. shower — to wash

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