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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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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: wave · snap · trunk · bound · tear · cell

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bound — obliged
  4. snap — to click
  5. wave — a sudden rise
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. tear — to rip
  9. cell — a phone
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. bound — certain
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. bound — tied together
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. tear — from crying
  18. cell — in biology

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