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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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. mouse — the animal
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. chest — of your body
  5. clip — a video
  6. chest — of your body
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. clip — for paper
  9. snap — to click
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. mouse — for a computer
  12. scale — in music
  13. charge — in control
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. charge — a price
  17. charge — electricity
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bulb — for light
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. scale — size or range
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. bulb — for light
  24. chest — a box

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