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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. spring — a coil
  4. game — a match
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. wound — an injury
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. track — a song
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. track — to keep track
  12. wake — a trail
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. track — a path
  15. swing — music
  16. swing — in golf
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. wound — an injury
  19. swing — to play on
  20. game — wild animals
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. deal — to handle
  24. spring — of water

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