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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: hand · snap · sharp · date · court · squash · wound · dip

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. snap — to click
  4. court — of law
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. date — the fruit
  7. hand — help
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. squash — the sport
  12. wound — an injury
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. court — of a king
  15. court — for sport
  16. dip — to sink
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. sharp — clever
  20. wound — an injury
  21. dip — to dunk
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. squash — to crush
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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