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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. spell — letters
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. rash — hasty
  6. ball — a dance
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. rash — a series
  11. spell — a short time
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. ball — a great time
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. chest — a box
  16. rush — hurry
  17. chest — of your body
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. chest — of your body
  21. spell — magic
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. sharp — clever

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