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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. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The ________________ took off on time.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — a trace
  2. bear — the animal
  3. hand — help
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. swing — in golf
  6. snap — to click
  7. court — of a king
  8. hand — in cards
  9. plane — an aircraft
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. cold — an illness
  12. swing — music
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. court — of law
  15. mark — a grade
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. cold — not warm
  18. court — for sport
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. swing — to play on
  21. bear — the animal
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. plane — a tool
  24. cold — the Cold War

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