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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. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. wind — moving air
  4. face — to point toward
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. root — of a word
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. face — part of the head
  11. bark — to shout
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. rush — hurry
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. wind — moving air
  17. face — to confront
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. root — of a plant
  21. root — the cause
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. bark — of a tree

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