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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. mug — a cup
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. ground — crushed
  5. shower — rain
  6. mug — to rob
  7. ground — the earth
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. branch — of a tree
  11. content — happy
  12. shower — to wash
  13. wind — moving air
  14. mug — a face
  15. stem — to come from
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. content — the amount
  18. ground — a position
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. branch — a division
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. wind — moving air
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. stem — a stem cell

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