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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Did you ________________ the button?
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. land — ground
  3. spell — a short time
  4. firm — decided
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. press — to push
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. press — a publisher
  9. spell — magic
  10. spell — letters
  11. firm — steady
  12. land — a country
  13. firm — a company
  14. land — to come down
  15. press — newspapers
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — of water

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