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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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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: wind · key · spell · kid · net · shower · pop · snap

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  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. pop — soda
  2. spell — letters
  3. kid — to tease
  4. net — in sport
  5. shower — rain
  6. key — for a lock
  7. snap — to click
  8. pop — music
  9. wind — moving air
  10. spell — magic
  11. key — in music
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. net — after costs
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. net — for catching
  17. key — the most important part
  18. shower — to wash
  19. kid — child
  20. pop — to visit
  21. spell — a short time
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  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