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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. clip — to cut
  3. snap — to click
  4. can — a tin
  5. prune — to trim
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. can — a tin
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. game — wild animals
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. track — a path
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. track — a song
  16. kid — to tease
  17. clip — for paper
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. kid — child
  20. clip — a video
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. can — to be able to
  23. prune — to trim
  24. track — to keep track

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