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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. mate — a partner
  7. clip — for paper
  8. firm — a company
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. hand — in cards
  11. clip — a video
  12. firm — decided
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. season — of the year
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. chair — a leader
  17. firm — steady
  18. squash — the sport
  19. mate — a friend
  20. squash — to crush
  21. clip — to cut
  22. hand — help
  23. season — in sport
  24. mate — to breed

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