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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. spell — a short time
  5. spring — the season
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spell — letters
  8. firm — a company
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. press — to push
  11. spring — of water
  12. press — newspapers
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. firm — steady
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. land — ground
  17. spell — magic
  18. sharp — clever
  19. firm — decided
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. press — a publisher
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. land — to come down
  24. land — a country

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