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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 116 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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. clip — to cut
  3. snap — to click
  4. hand — help
  5. spell — magic
  6. clip — for paper
  7. fine — all right
  8. clip — a video
  9. capital — a city
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. spell — a short time
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. hand — in cards
  20. fall — to drop
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. fine — high quality
  23. fall — the season
  24. spell — letters

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