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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: snap · mine · spell · prune · deal · wound · saw · wind

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. snap — to click
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. wound — an injury
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. spell — a short time
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wind — moving air
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. mine — for digging
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. wind — moving air
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. saw — the tool
  21. saw — the tool
  22. spell — letters
  23. deal — to handle
  24. prune — to trim

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