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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 120 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. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. spring — the season
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — to cut
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. spring — a coil
  11. clip — a video
  12. wake — a trail
  13. fork — in a road
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. snap — to click
  16. spring — of water
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. scale — size or range

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