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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 116 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: leaves · scale · bound · bat · ball · snap · wake · cold

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. That was ________________ to happen.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. scale — size or range
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. wake — a trail
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. ball — a dance
  14. scale — in music
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. cold — an illness
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. bound — certain
  21. bound — obliged
  22. bound — tied together
  23. snap — to click
  24. ball — a great time

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