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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: mine · wake · scale · snap · cell · tube · march · pound

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. mine — an explosive
  3. scale — size or range
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. tube — a container
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. scale — in music
  9. wake — a trail
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. pound — a weight
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. cell — in biology
  14. march — the month
  15. march — the month
  16. tube — the underground
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. cell — a phone
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. mine — for digging
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. march — music

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