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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 116 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: court · face · shower · snap · stem · swing · prune · wake

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. snap — to click
  3. court — of a king
  4. face — to point toward
  5. prune — to trim
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. shower — to wash
  8. wake — a trail
  9. court — for sport
  10. prune — to trim
  11. stem — to come from
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. swing — music
  15. face — to confront
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. swing — to play on
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. swing — in golf
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. court — of law
  23. shower — rain
  24. wake — before a funeral

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