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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: face · spell · staff · snap · band · row · root · tear

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. tear — to rip
  3. spell — letters
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. face — part of the head
  7. staff — employees
  8. tear — from crying
  9. row — to paddle
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. face — to point toward
  12. spell — magic
  13. face — to confront
  14. staff — employees
  15. tear — from crying
  16. spell — a short time
  17. root — the cause
  18. root — of a word
  19. band — a ring
  20. staff — a stick
  21. band — a music group
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. root — of a plant
  24. row — a line

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