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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — high quality
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. snap — to click
  5. craft — a skill
  6. fine — all right
  7. row — to paddle
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. craft — boats
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. saw — the tool
  12. clip — to cut
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. band — a music group
  15. wound — an injury
  16. band — a ring
  17. clip — a video
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. clip — for paper
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. row — a line
  24. wound — an injury

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