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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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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: mine · face · pop · pitcher · mug · snap · rash · cold

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. mug — a cup
  3. mug — a face
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. rash — a series
  6. face — to confront
  7. pop — soda
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. snap — to click
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — not warm
  14. mine — for digging
  15. face — to point toward
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. face — part of the head
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. pop — music
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. pop — to visit
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. mug — to rob
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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