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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. cap — a lid
  3. march — the month
  4. fall — to drop
  5. spring — a coil
  6. cap — a hat
  7. fall — the season
  8. march — the month
  9. land — a country
  10. fall — to drop
  11. land — to come down
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. spring — of water
  14. spring — the season
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. land — ground
  19. chair — a leader
  20. march — music
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. cap — of ice
  23. perch — the fish
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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