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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. land — ground
  4. land — to come down
  5. fall — to drop
  6. squash — to crush
  7. squash — the sport
  8. land — a country
  9. fall — the season
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. bulb — for light
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. bulb — for light
  15. fall — to drop
  16. wind — moving air
  17. snap — to click
  18. wind — moving air

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