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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. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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. date — the fruit
  3. wound — an injury
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wound — an injury
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. spell — a short time
  9. swing — music
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. foot — a measure
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. swing — in golf
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. row — a line
  17. spell — letters
  18. swing — to play on
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. row — to paddle
  22. spell — magic
  23. snap — to click
  24. date — on the calendar

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