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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: rock · roll · snap · sharp · net · bark · date · spring

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. sharp — clever
  3. spring — a coil
  4. rock — music
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. net — for catching
  12. spring — of water
  13. net — after costs
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. rock — a stone
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. roll — a cake
  19. date — the fruit
  20. net — in sport
  21. spring — the season
  22. bark — to shout
  23. roll — a list
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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