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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. chair — a leader
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. prune — to trim
  7. swing — in golf
  8. cell — in biology
  9. tear — from crying
  10. snap — to click
  11. prune — to trim
  12. swing — music
  13. spring — the season
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. spring — a coil
  16. cell — a phone
  17. tear — to rip
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. tear — from crying
  20. wake — a trail
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. spring — of water
  24. swing — to play on

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