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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. foot — a measure
  3. file — a line of people
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. capital — money
  6. saw — the tool
  7. mate — a friend
  8. capital — a city
  9. file — a document
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bass — the fish
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. file — a tool
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. saw — the tool
  20. snap — to click
  21. bass — low music
  22. mate — a partner
  23. mate — to breed
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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