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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. snap — to click
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. shower — to wash
  6. net — for catching
  7. net — in sport
  8. wake — a trail
  9. wound — an injury
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. drill — a practice
  12. row — a line
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. row — to paddle
  16. net — after costs
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. drill — army training
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. stem — to come from
  22. drill — the tool
  23. shower — rain
  24. wound — an injury

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