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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 124 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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. bulb — for light
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. rest — what's left
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rest — what's left
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. rest — a break
  10. game — wild animals
  11. sharp — clever
  12. game — a match
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. pound — a weight
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. snap — to click
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. clip — to cut
  20. clip — for paper
  21. wound — an injury
  22. clip — a video
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. bulb — for light

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