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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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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: date · cold · wake · pound · snap · saw · hide · spell

  1. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. She's very handy with a ________________.
  10. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. date — the fruit
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. spell — magic
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. wake — a trail
  8. cold — not warm
  9. saw — the tool
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. spell — letters
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. saw — the tool
  15. spell — a short time
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. snap — to click
  18. cold — an illness
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. pound — for dogs

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