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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. hand — help
  3. spell — a short time
  4. spring — a coil
  5. spell — magic
  6. bulb — for light
  7. current — happening now
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. shower — rain
  10. spell — letters
  11. current — electric
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. spring — the season
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. bulb — for light
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. plane — a tool
  19. shower — to wash
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. hand — in cards
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. current — of water
  24. spring — of water

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