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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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Word bank
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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 · chair · mouse · bore · cold · march · bat · snap

  1. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. march — music
  2. snap — to click
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. chair — a leader
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. bat — the animal
  11. march — the month
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. bore — to drill
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. march — the month
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bore — to tire
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. bore — gave birth

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