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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. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. roll — a list
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. roll — a cake
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. perch — the fish
  9. firm — steady
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. wound — an injury
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. mine — for digging
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. firm — decided
  17. firm — a company
  18. game — a match
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. game — wild animals
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. wound — an injury

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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