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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 120 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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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 · fork · root · spell · cue · face · kid · cold

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. cold — not warm
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cue — for pool
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. spell — a short time
  8. spell — letters
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. face — to point toward
  12. root — of a plant
  13. fork — in a road
  14. root — the cause
  15. root — of a word
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. cue — a signal
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — child
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. spell — magic
  22. face — to confront
  23. cue — a hint
  24. face — part of the head

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