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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. spell — magic
  3. lean — to bend
  4. spell — a short time
  5. net — in sport
  6. tear — to rip
  7. season — of the year
  8. tear — from crying
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. content — the amount
  13. spell — letters
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. lean — thin
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. tear — from crying
  19. content — happy
  20. season — in sport
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. net — for catching
  24. net — after costs

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