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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: wake · face · craft · foot · spring · cold · snap · land

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. craft — boats
  3. wake — a trail
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. land — ground
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. cold — not warm
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. craft — a skill
  10. face — to confront
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. face — part of the head
  15. land — to come down
  16. spring — a coil
  17. land — a country
  18. spring — of water
  19. cold — an illness
  20. foot — a measure
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. face — to point toward
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. spring — the season

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