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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. spell — a short time
  3. snap — to click
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. bark — to shout
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. dip — to sink
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. court — of a king
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. deal — to handle
  14. hand — help
  15. court — for sport
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. spell — letters
  19. mine — for digging
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. court — of law
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. spell — magic
  24. hand — in cards

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