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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. rule — a law
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. rest — a break
  10. drill — army training
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. row — a line
  13. wave — a sudden rise
  14. rest — what's left
  15. content — happy
  16. drill — the tool
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. row — to paddle
  21. content — the amount
  22. rest — what's left
  23. drill — a practice
  24. rule — government

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