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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 black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bear — the animal
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. spell — a short time
  5. file — a tool
  6. firm — a company
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. hand — help
  11. firm — steady
  12. spell — letters
  13. file — a document
  14. toast — bread
  15. file — a line of people
  16. spell — magic
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. firm — decided
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. hand — in cards
  23. bear — the animal
  24. coach — a trainer

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