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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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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: kick · wind · saw · spell · cap · snap · root · mark

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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. mark — a grade
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. spell — letters
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. cap — a lid
  7. cap — of ice
  8. saw — the tool
  9. root — of a word
  10. snap — to click
  11. root — of a plant
  12. saw — the tool
  13. spell — a short time
  14. spell — magic
  15. wind — moving air
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. wind — moving air
  18. mark — a trace
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. cap — a hat
  23. kick — in football
  24. root — the cause

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