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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. spell — magic
  3. degree — from a university
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. snap — to click
  6. spell — a short time
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. current — electric
  12. dip — to sink
  13. game — a match
  14. current — happening now
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. degree — an amount
  18. degree — temperature
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. game — wild animals
  24. current — of water

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