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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: bay · roll · spell · wax · snap · fork · net · kid

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. kid — child
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. roll — a cake
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. roll — a list
  7. fork — in a road
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. net — for catching
  12. spell — magic
  13. kid — to tease
  14. spell — letters
  15. spell — a short time
  16. net — in sport
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. snap — to click
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. wax — to grow
  24. fork — to eat with

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