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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 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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — to rip
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. swing — music
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. spell — a short time
  12. current — electric
  13. tear — from crying
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. current — happening now
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. current — of water
  18. roll — a list
  19. swing — to play on
  20. swing — in golf
  21. spell — letters
  22. roll — a cake
  23. date — the fruit
  24. spell — magic

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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