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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. tube — the underground
  7. tube — a container
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. prune — to trim
  10. spell — a short time
  11. spell — letters
  12. fork — in a road
  13. game — a match
  14. prune — to trim
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. game — wild animals
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. spell — magic
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. chair — a leader
  24. chair — a professorship

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