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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. last — finally
  3. clip — a video
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. file — a document
  6. spring — of water
  7. snap — to click
  8. last — to go on
  9. spring — a coil
  10. clip — for paper
  11. object — a thing
  12. last — final
  13. object — to protest
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. clip — to cut
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. rush — hurry
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. wake — a trail
  21. file — a line of people
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. file — a tool
  24. object — an aim

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