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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · chest · ground · hand · sharp · calf · perch · rash

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. Don't do anything ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. There's no middle ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. chest — of your body
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. rash — hasty
  6. chest — of your body
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. ground — a position
  9. hand — in cards
  10. rash — a series
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. chest — a box
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. sharp — clever
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. ground — the earth
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. ground — crushed
  20. hand — help
  21. perch — the fish
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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