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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. rush — hurry
  5. net — for catching
  6. net — after costs
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. board — to get on
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. cold — an illness
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. prune — to trim
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. net — in sport
  20. prune — to trim
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. snap — to click
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. board — a committee

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