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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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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: chair · pop · snap · spring · hand · bat · toast · lean

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. spring — the season
  4. pop — music
  5. chair — a leader
  6. lean — thin
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — the animal
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. pop — to visit
  13. spring — a coil
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. hand — help
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. spring — of water
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. toast — bread
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. pop — soda
  22. hand — in cards
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. lean — to bend

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