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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bulb · ground · shower · snap · hide · spring

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. ground — a position
  4. spring — of water
  5. bulb — for light
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. shower — rain
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. ground — crushed
  12. spring — a coil
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. spring — the season
  16. ground — the earth
  17. bulb — for light
  18. shower — to wash

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