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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 · wave · fall · kid · cold · date · rock · content

  1. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. snap — to click
  3. cold — an illness
  4. fall — to drop
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. date — the fruit
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. rock — music
  15. content — happy
  16. fall — to drop
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wave — a sudden rise
  20. content — the amount
  21. kid — child
  22. rock — a stone
  23. kid — to tease
  24. date — on the calendar

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