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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. row — a line
  7. wound — an injury
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. staff — employees
  10. row — to paddle
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. staff — a stick
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. staff — employees
  15. root — the cause
  16. root — of a plant
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. branch — a division
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. root — of a word
  24. wound — an injury

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