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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. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. lean — thin
  4. field — farmland
  5. rock — to move gently
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. pop — to visit
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. rock — music
  10. spring — the season
  11. mine — for digging
  12. rock — a stone
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. field — for sport
  15. lean — to bend
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. field — a subject
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. spring — of water
  21. spring — a coil
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. pop — soda
  24. pop — music

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