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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. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bay — to keep at bay
  3. pop — to visit
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. kid — child
  6. spring — of water
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. spell — a short time
  9. pop — soda
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. spell — magic
  13. wax — to grow
  14. spring — the season
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. kid — to tease
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. spring — a coil
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. date — the fruit
  22. pop — music
  23. bay — a horse colour
  24. spell — letters

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