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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. swing — in golf
  3. spell — magic
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. swing — to play on
  9. cold — an illness
  10. spell — a short time
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. wax — to grow
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. wind — moving air
  18. swing — music
  19. shower — rain
  20. shower — to wash
  21. spell — letters
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. cold — not warm
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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