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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 116 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. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. spell — magic
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. spell — a short time
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. squash — to crush
  9. pop — soda
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. ball — a great time
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. ball — a dance
  15. perch — the fish
  16. pop — to visit
  17. spell — letters
  18. pop — music
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. squash — the sport
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. mine — for digging
  24. branch — a division

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