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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. The water is too ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. cold — not warm
  3. mate — to breed
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. snap — to click
  8. cold — an illness
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. pop — to visit
  12. mate — a friend
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. root — of a word
  17. pop — music
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. bat — the animal
  20. mate — a partner
  21. root — the cause
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. pop — soda
  24. root — of a plant

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