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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 120 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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. spell — a short time
  5. spell — magic
  6. sharp — clever
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. rest — a break
  9. mark — a trace
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. rest — what's left
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. mark — a grade
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. bark — to shout
  16. rest — what's left
  17. chair — a leader
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. spell — letters

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