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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. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. wound — an injury
  3. spell — letters
  4. degree — from a university
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cue — a hint
  7. land — a country
  8. snap — to click
  9. mark — a trace
  10. degree — temperature
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. land — to come down
  13. mark — a grade
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. cue — for pool
  17. bark — to shout
  18. degree — an amount
  19. land — ground
  20. cue — a signal
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. spell — a short time
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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