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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: fork · swing · snap · bat · sharp · wave · hand · dip

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. sharp — clever
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. bat — the animal
  5. swing — to play on
  6. dip — to sink
  7. swing — in golf
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. hand — in cards
  12. hand — help
  13. swing — music
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. fork — in a road
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. bat — in an idiom

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