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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 116 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: spring · deal · lie · cold · rash · snap

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. spring — of water
  4. lie — to recline
  5. snap — to click
  6. rash — a series
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. deal — to handle
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. rash — hasty
  12. spring — a coil
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. cold — an illness
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. spring — the season
  18. cold — the Cold War

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