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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. cold — an illness
  3. snap — to click
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. chip — to eat
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — to wash
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. last — final
  14. kick — in football
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. spell — letters
  18. chip — for betting
  19. spell — a short time
  20. last — to go on
  21. spell — magic
  22. shower — rain
  23. cold — not warm
  24. last — finally

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