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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 asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. spell — magic
  3. spring — the season
  4. rash — hasty
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. shower — to wash
  7. cap — a lid
  8. spring — a coil
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. rash — a series
  11. present — a gift
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. lie — to recline
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. spring — of water
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. spell — letters
  18. cap — of ice
  19. cap — a hat
  20. spell — a short time
  21. present — there
  22. shower — rain
  23. present — the time now
  24. lie — an untruth

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