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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.

Make a worksheet

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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. file — a line of people
  4. face — to point toward
  5. spring — a coil
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. spring — of water
  8. rest — what's left
  9. face — to confront
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. file — a document
  12. rest — what's left
  13. face — part of the head
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. spring — the season
  16. rest — a break
  17. file — a tool
  18. leaves — to go away

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