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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. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. The water is 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 — the Cold War
  3. march — music
  4. wind — moving air
  5. march — the month
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. file — a tool
  9. root — of a plant
  10. snap — to click
  11. march — the month
  12. root — of a word
  13. file — a document
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. wind — moving air
  16. file — a line of people
  17. root — the cause
  18. cue — a signal
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. cue — for pool
  22. cold — an illness
  23. cue — a hint
  24. cold — not warm

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