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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. spell — magic
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. net — in sport
  6. sharp — clever
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. spell — letters
  9. spell — a short time
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. net — after costs
  12. plane — a tool
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. race — the arms race
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. race — humankind
  21. net — for catching
  22. dip — to sink
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. race — a contest

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