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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. clip — a video
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. file — a document
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. sharp — clever
  8. ground — the earth
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wind — moving air
  11. file — a line of people
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. ground — a position
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. clip — to cut
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. file — a tool
  19. clip — for paper
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. ground — crushed
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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