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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: spell · snap · capital · bark · wave · wind · wound · content

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. capital — money
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. wound — an injury
  5. spell — magic
  6. wind — moving air
  7. spell — a short time
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. content — happy
  11. capital — a city
  12. wound — an injury
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. snap — to click
  15. spell — letters
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. content — the amount
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bark — to shout
  23. wind — moving air
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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