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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: fork · pop · snap · row · bass · pit · race · chest

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. snap — to click
  3. pop — music
  4. fork — in a road
  5. pop — soda
  6. row — to paddle
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. bass — low music
  9. chest — a box
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. bass — the fish
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. chest — of your body
  14. race — the arms race
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. pop — to visit
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. pit — in a race
  19. race — humankind
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. race — a contest
  22. row — a line
  23. pit — a hole
  24. chest — of your body

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