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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 120 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. He is an ace ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. land — to come down
  4. land — ground
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. net — in sport
  7. net — for catching
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. wake — a trail
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. snap — to click
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. spring — the season
  15. land — a country
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. spring — a coil
  22. net — after costs
  23. spring — of water
  24. nail — on a finger

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