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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. spell — magic
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. chest — of your body
  5. spell — a short time
  6. roll — a cake
  7. jam — in traffic
  8. chest — of your body
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. roll — a list
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. chest — a box
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. root — of a word
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. spell — letters
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. mine — for digging
  21. snap — to click
  22. root — of a plant
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. root — the cause

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