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

Word bank: snap · row · march · cold · wind · object · dip · key

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. march — the month
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — an illness
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. wind — moving air
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. dip — to sink
  10. object — a thing
  11. key — for a lock
  12. row — a line
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. object — to protest
  15. row — to paddle
  16. snap — to click
  17. key — the most important part
  18. wind — moving air
  19. march — music
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. object — an aim
  23. key — in music
  24. march — the month

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