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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wake · bound · face · board · spell · bat · snap · rest

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. That was ________________ to happen.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. spell — letters
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. face — to confront
  5. face — to point toward
  6. bound — obliged
  7. bound — certain
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. rest — a break
  10. face — part of the head
  11. board — a flat piece
  12. bound — tied together
  13. spell — magic
  14. bat — the animal
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. wake — a trail
  19. rest — what's left
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. spell — a short time
  22. board — to get on
  23. board — a committee
  24. rest — what's left

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