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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. season — of the year
  4. track — a song
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. clip — to cut
  7. track — to keep track
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. charge — electricity
  10. rock — music
  11. cell — in biology
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. rock — a stone
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — for paper
  16. cell — a phone
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. season — in sport
  19. pitch — completely
  20. charge — in control
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. track — a path
  24. charge — a price

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