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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. present — the time now
  3. face — to confront
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. clip — to cut
  6. present — a gift
  7. spring — a coil
  8. clip — for paper
  9. face — part of the head
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. mug — to rob
  12. fork — in a road
  13. scale — in music
  14. face — to point toward
  15. scale — size or range
  16. spring — the season
  17. mug — a cup
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. snap — to click
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. spring — of water
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. present — there
  24. clip — a video

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