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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: snap · wake · face · spring · pitcher · clip · key · date

  1. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to point toward
  2. face — part of the head
  3. spring — a coil
  4. spring — the season
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. clip — for paper
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. wake — a trail
  9. key — for a lock
  10. clip — to cut
  11. face — to confront
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. snap — to click
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. clip — a video
  19. key — the most important part
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. key — in music
  22. spring — of water
  23. date — the fruit
  24. pitcher — a jug

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