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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: rush · cabinet · cold · jam · snap · spell · rock · ground

  1. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. How do you ________________ your surname?
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. ground — a position
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. rush — hurry
  6. snap — to click
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. spell — letters
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. spell — a short time
  12. jam — in traffic
  13. ground — crushed
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. cold — not warm
  17. ground — the earth
  18. spell — magic
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. rock — a stone
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. cold — an illness
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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