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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: tear · snap · club · drill · bowl · cold · current · date

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. tear — from crying
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. club — a group
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. current — electric
  8. bowl — to roll
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. cold — not warm
  11. club — for golf
  12. tear — from crying
  13. drill — the tool
  14. date — the fruit
  15. snap — to click
  16. current — happening now
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. drill — army training
  19. tear — to rip
  20. club — for dancing
  21. cold — an illness
  22. drill — a practice
  23. current — of water
  24. bowl — a football final

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