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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. mate — a partner
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. scale — in music
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. cold — an illness
  8. track — a path
  9. scale — size or range
  10. leaves — to go away
  11. mate — a friend
  12. rash — a series
  13. fork — in a road
  14. track — a song
  15. snap — to click
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. cold — not warm
  18. mate — to breed
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. track — to keep track
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. rash — hasty

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