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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 116 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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. cold — an illness
  4. fall — the season
  5. club — a group
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. race — humankind
  8. current — happening now
  9. race — the arms race
  10. bowl — a dish
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. club — for dancing
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. cold — not warm
  16. current — of water
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. current — electric
  19. bowl — a football final
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — to drop
  22. race — a contest
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. club — for golf

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