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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: saw · club · snap · fine · spring · drill · bear · tear

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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. snap — to click
  3. club — for dancing
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. drill — a practice
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. saw — the tool
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. fine — all right
  10. drill — the tool
  11. tear — from crying
  12. club — a group
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. fine — high quality
  15. saw — the tool
  16. tear — to rip
  17. bear — the animal
  18. bear — the animal
  19. spring — of water
  20. club — for golf
  21. tear — from crying
  22. drill — army training
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — the season

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