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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. clip — to cut
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. hand — help
  8. snap — to click
  9. stem — to come from
  10. clip — a video
  11. hand — in cards
  12. mine — for digging
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. clip — for paper
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. snap — to snap out of it

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