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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 116 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: snap · stem · straw · perch · rash · pitch · wound · spell

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. wound — an injury
  6. stem — to come from
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. pitch — completely
  10. wound — an injury
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. rash — a series
  19. rash — hasty
  20. spell — a short time
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. perch — the fish
  24. spell — magic

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