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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. fall — to drop
  3. file — a line of people
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. fall — to drop
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. fall — the season
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. file — a document
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. shower — to wash
  16. file — a tool
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. pitch — completely
  21. foot — a measure
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. shower — rain
  24. pitcher — a jug

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