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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 124 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 need to ________________ round.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. game — wild animals
  4. pop — music
  5. cold — not warm
  6. rash — a series
  7. game — a match
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. cold — an illness
  11. chair — a leader
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. bat — the animal
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. rash — hasty
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. snap — to click
  24. pop — soda

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