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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. pit — in a race
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. mine — for digging
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. clip — for paper
  13. row — to paddle
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. deal — to handle
  16. clip — a video
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. snap — to click
  19. row — a line
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. bat — the animal
  22. pit — a hole
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. clip — to cut

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