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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. snap — to click
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. march — music
  5. clip — a video
  6. kick — in football
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. ground — crushed
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. march — the month
  13. clip — for paper
  14. wound — an injury
  15. ground — a position
  16. ground — the earth
  17. clip — to cut
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. march — the month
  20. dip — to sink
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. wound — an injury
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. mouse — the animal

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