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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 120 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: spell · pop · plane · kid · chest · mate · temple · snap

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The ________________ took off on time.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. chest — a box
  3. kid — to tease
  4. mate — a partner
  5. pop — music
  6. plane — a tool
  7. kid — child
  8. snap — to click
  9. pop — to visit
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. spell — magic
  14. mate — a friend
  15. chest — of your body
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. spell — a short time
  20. chest — of your body
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. mate — to breed
  23. spell — letters
  24. plane — an aircraft

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