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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: net · kick · staff · snap · mine · pass · deal · cold

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  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. snap — to click
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. pass — to succeed
  4. cold — an illness
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. net — for catching
  9. staff — employees
  10. cold — not warm
  11. deal — to handle
  12. staff — a stick
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. kick — in football
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. mine — for digging
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. pass — a permit
  19. net — in sport
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. staff — employees
  22. net — after costs
  23. deal — a big deal
  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