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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. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. bass — low music
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. chest — a box
  8. craft — a skill
  9. net — after costs
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. chest — of your body
  13. craft — boats
  14. bass — the fish
  15. prune — to trim
  16. cell — a phone
  17. net — in sport
  18. cell — in biology
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bear — the animal
  21. chest — of your body
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. net — for catching
  24. prune — to trim

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