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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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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: face · snap · land · chair · bulb · bark · spell · kick

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. land — to come down
  3. spell — a short time
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. spell — letters
  7. chair — a leader
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. bulb — for light
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. face — to confront
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. face — to point toward
  15. land — a country
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. spell — magic
  18. bulb — for light
  19. land — ground
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. snap — to click
  23. bark — to shout
  24. kick — in football

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