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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: present · plane · wake · net · spring · row · snap · hand

  1. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The ________________ took off on time.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. net — after costs
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. present — the time now
  5. present — a gift
  6. net — in sport
  7. hand — in cards
  8. snap — to click
  9. spring — a coil
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. plane — a tool
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. net — for catching
  15. row — to paddle
  16. spring — the season
  17. present — there
  18. spring — of water
  19. hand — help
  20. plane — an aircraft
  21. row — a line
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. wake — a trail

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