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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. prune — the fruit
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. ground — a position
  5. hand — in cards
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. chip — to eat
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. tear — from crying
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. tear — to rip
  15. ground — the earth
  16. ground — crushed
  17. dip — to sink
  18. chip — for betting
  19. hand — help
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — to trim
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. tear — from crying
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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