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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: wake · kid · nail · fall · march · snap · date · dip

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  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. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. march — music
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. wake — a trail
  6. fall — to drop
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. snap — to click
  10. date — the fruit
  11. march — the month
  12. march — the month
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. dip — to sink
  17. kid — child
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. fall — the season
  21. kid — to tease
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. fall — to drop
  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