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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. spell — letters
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. hand — in cards
  5. tube — the underground
  6. tube — a container
  7. land — ground
  8. ground — crushed
  9. ground — the earth
  10. land — to come down
  11. land — a country
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. snap — to click
  14. spell — a short time
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. spell — magic
  17. ground — a position
  18. hand — help

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