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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. game — a match
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. saw — the tool
  5. net — in sport
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — a video
  8. net — after costs
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. net — for catching
  11. clip — for paper
  12. bear — the animal
  13. content — the amount
  14. content — happy
  15. snap — to click
  16. game — wild animals
  17. saw — the tool
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. bear — the animal
  24. perch — the fish

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