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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. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. Recycle the empty soda ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. face — part of the head
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. swing — to play on
  6. cold — not warm
  7. can — to be able to
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. cold — an illness
  11. swing — in golf
  12. face — to confront
  13. can — a tin
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. face — to point toward
  21. swing — music
  22. bark — to shout
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. can — a tin

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