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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. mine — for digging
  3. face — to confront
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. deal — an agreement
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. deal — to handle
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. can — a tin
  11. clip — a video
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — the animal
  14. can — a tin
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. clip — to cut
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. snap — to click
  19. pound — a weight
  20. clip — for paper
  21. face — part of the head
  22. can — to be able to
  23. face — to point toward
  24. pound — for dogs

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