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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. spell — a short time
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. cue — for pool
  5. court — for sport
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. cue — a hint
  9. squash — to crush
  10. cue — a signal
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bark — to shout
  13. wound — an injury
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. squash — the sport
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. court — of a king
  18. spell — letters
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. spell — magic
  23. court — of law
  24. leaves — lets stay

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