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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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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: cold · leaves · club · foot · fork · trunk · snap · spell

  1. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. spell — magic
  3. foot — a measure
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. cold — an illness
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. club — a group
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. cold — not warm
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. spell — letters
  18. fork — in a road
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. snap — to click
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. club — for dancing
  23. club — for golf
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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