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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. snap — to click
  3. net — in sport
  4. clip — for paper
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. clip — a video
  9. land — a country
  10. field — a subject
  11. land — to come down
  12. field — farmland
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. rule — a law
  15. land — ground
  16. craft — a skill
  17. net — after costs
  18. clip — to cut
  19. field — for sport
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. craft — boats
  22. net — for catching
  23. rule — government
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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