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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. clip — a video
  3. chair — a leader
  4. ball — a dance
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. saw — the tool
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. snap — to click
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. drill — a practice
  14. saw — the tool
  15. rash — a series
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. drill — army training
  20. rash — hasty
  21. ball — a great time
  22. clip — for paper
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. drill — the tool

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