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

Word bank: last · snap · wind · cell · foot · bowl

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. wind — moving air
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. last — to go on
  6. snap — to click
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. foot — a measure
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cell — in biology
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. last — finally
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. wind — moving air

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