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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. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. How do you ________________ your surname?
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. snap — to click
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. ball — a dance
  7. pit — in a race
  8. rule — a law
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. rule — government
  11. file — a line of people
  12. rest — a break
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. rest — what's left
  15. spell — a short time
  16. spell — magic
  17. file — a tool
  18. file — a document
  19. rest — what's left
  20. spell — letters
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. ball — a great time
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — size or range

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