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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. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. shower — to wash
  3. degree — an amount
  4. march — music
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. mate — to breed
  7. shower — rain
  8. mate — a partner
  9. mate — a friend
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. content — happy
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — the amount
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. press — a publisher
  17. degree — temperature
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. press — newspapers
  20. march — the month
  21. press — to push
  22. degree — from a university
  23. march — the month
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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