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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 116 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: pitcher · cold · wind · safe · ruler · snap · march · net

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. safe — a strongbox
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. net — after costs
  6. cold — not warm
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. snap — to click
  13. march — music
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. safe — out of danger
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. net — for catching
  21. net — in sport
  22. wind — moving air
  23. cold — an illness
  24. ruler — for measuring

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