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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 120 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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of 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. lean — to rest against
  3. spell — magic
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. content — happy
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. lean — to bend
  9. bass — low music
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. net — after costs
  12. band — a music group
  13. spell — a short time
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. snap — to click
  17. band — a ring
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. spell — letters
  20. lean — thin
  21. bass — the fish
  22. content — the amount
  23. net — for catching
  24. net — in sport

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