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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. snap — to click
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. cap — of ice
  10. spell — letters
  11. field — for sport
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. spell — a short time
  15. field — farmland
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cap — a hat
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. field — a subject
  23. branch — a division
  24. spell — magic

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