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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: snap · wind · saw · spring · kid · toast · face · pit

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. toast — bread
  4. spring — the season
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — the tool
  7. snap — to click
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. wind — moving air
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. pit — in a race
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. wind — moving air
  14. spring — a coil
  15. kid — child
  16. kid — to tease
  17. spring — of water
  18. face — to point toward
  19. face — to confront
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. face — part of the head
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. pit — a hole
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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