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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 · bark · pitcher · ground · pop · firm · fan · snap

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. pop — to visit
  3. ground — a position
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. spring — the season
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. firm — a company
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. spring — a coil
  11. pop — soda
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. ground — the earth
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. snap — to click
  16. bark — to shout
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. firm — decided
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. pop — music
  21. ground — crushed
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. spring — of water
  24. bark — of a tree

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