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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: snap · spring · chest · wake · kid · fan · spell · season

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. spell — magic
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. spring — the season
  7. season — of the year
  8. snap — to click
  9. chest — a box
  10. kid — child
  11. season — in sport
  12. kid — to tease
  13. spring — a coil
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. chest — of your body
  16. spell — letters
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. spring — of water
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. wake — a trail
  22. chest — of your body
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. spell — a short time

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