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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: chair · fan · object · pound · snap · cold · bay · wound

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. object — an aim
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. object — a thing
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. cold — an illness
  8. snap — to click
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. object — to protest
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. wound — an injury
  15. pound — a weight
  16. cold — not warm
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. chair — a leader
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. wound — an injury

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