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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 116 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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. cell — a phone
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. net — in sport
  7. net — for catching
  8. pop — music
  9. wax — to grow
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. wound — an injury
  12. perch — the fish
  13. hand — help
  14. net — after costs
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. cell — in biology
  19. pop — soda
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. pop — to visit
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. perch — for a bird

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