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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. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. rest — what's left
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. spring — of water
  6. net — after costs
  7. net — for catching
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rest — a break
  11. foot — a measure
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. rest — what's left
  14. spring — the season
  15. cold — an illness
  16. net — in sport
  17. chair — a leader
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. spring — a coil

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