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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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. hand — help
  3. land — to come down
  4. hand — in cards
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. bass — low music
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. spring — the season
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. mark — a trace
  14. mark — a grade
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. snap — to click
  18. bass — the fish
  19. spring — of water
  20. land — a country
  21. land — ground
  22. spring — a coil
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — moving air

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