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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. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. staff — a stick
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. sharp — clever
  6. pop — soda
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. cell — a phone
  9. snap — to click
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. staff — employees
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. pop — to visit
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — for digging
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. cell — in biology
  19. pop — music
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. wind — moving air
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. fan — to cool the air

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