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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: row · snap · ball · dip · hand · fan · wind · spring

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. snap — to click
  4. ball — a dance
  5. hand — help
  6. ball — a great time
  7. hand — in cards
  8. spring — of water
  9. spring — the season
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. row — to paddle
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. row — a line
  15. dip — to sink
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. wind — moving air
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. spring — a coil

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