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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. cap — a lid
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. court — of law
  8. degree — temperature
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. clip — a video
  11. prune — to trim
  12. cap — a hat
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. degree — from a university
  15. clip — to cut
  16. fall — to drop
  17. fall — the season
  18. fall — to drop
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. court — for sport
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cap — of ice
  23. degree — an amount
  24. court — of a king

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