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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 120 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: key · snap · degree · mate · cold · club · rush · wake

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. This piece is in a major ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. key — for a lock
  4. mate — to breed
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. degree — from a university
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. rush — hurry
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. mate — a partner
  13. club — for golf
  14. club — for dancing
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. mate — a friend
  17. club — a group
  18. degree — an amount
  19. key — the most important part
  20. cold — an illness
  21. degree — temperature
  22. cold — not warm
  23. key — in music
  24. wake — a trail

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