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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. cap — a hat
  3. snap — to click
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. swing — in golf
  6. mate — to breed
  7. rush — hurry
  8. mate — a partner
  9. swing — to play on
  10. mate — a friend
  11. roll — a list
  12. cap — of ice
  13. file — a document
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. roll — a cake
  18. file — a tool
  19. file — a line of people
  20. pop — to visit
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. cap — a lid
  23. swing — music
  24. pop — music

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