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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: fan · swing · cold · chest · rule · rock · snap · pitcher

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. chest — a box
  5. rock — a stone
  6. chest — of your body
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. rule — a law
  10. swing — to play on
  11. chest — of your body
  12. snap — to click
  13. rule — government
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. swing — in golf
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. cold — not warm
  18. cold — an illness
  19. swing — music
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. rock — music
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. fan — to cool the air

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