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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: spring · hand · snap · degree · lean · spell · straw · mouse

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. hand — in cards
  3. spell — a short time
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. spell — letters
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. snap — to click
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. degree — an amount
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. spring — the season
  12. spell — magic
  13. degree — temperature
  14. degree — from a university
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. hand — help
  17. mouse — the animal
  18. lean — to rest against
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. spring — a coil
  22. lean — to bend
  23. spring — of water
  24. lean — thin

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