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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. hand — help
  3. spring — the season
  4. snap — to click
  5. bat — the animal
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. spring — a coil
  9. pass — a permit
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. tube — the underground
  14. spring — of water
  15. tube — a container
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. band — a ring
  19. pass — to spend time
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. band — a music group
  24. pass — to succeed

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