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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. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. plane — a tool
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. spell — a short time
  5. spring — of water
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. spell — magic
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. bat — the animal
  11. spring — the season
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. mark — a grade
  14. spell — letters
  15. stem — to come from
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. mark — a trace
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. perch — the fish
  24. spring — a coil

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