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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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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: field · can · spell · cold · stick · tear · snap · spring

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. spell — magic
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. tear — to rip
  6. cold — an illness
  7. spell — letters
  8. cold — not warm
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. spell — a short time
  11. spring — the season
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — a subject
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. can — a tin
  17. snap — to click
  18. spring — of water
  19. tear — from crying
  20. can — a tin
  21. tear — from crying
  22. can — to be able to
  23. spring — a coil
  24. field — for sport

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