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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: snap · hide · mouse · nail · kick · cold · cue · sharp

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — with an edge
  2. snap — to click
  3. cue — a hint
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. cold — not warm
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. mouse — for a computer
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. nail — on a finger
  16. cold — an illness
  17. sharp — clever
  18. kick — in football
  19. cue — for pool
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. cue — a signal

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