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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We were using a ________________ as a seat.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. mark — a grade
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cold — an illness
  6. mark — a trace
  7. shower — to wash
  8. clip — to cut
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. snap — to click
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. clip — a video
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. shower — rain
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. rush — hurry
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. rock — music
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. cold — not warm
  24. rock — a stone

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