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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. My mare is ________________ in color.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. bay — a horse colour
  6. degree — an amount
  7. craft — a skill
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. wake — a trail
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. clip — a video
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. craft — boats
  15. degree — from a university
  16. fall — to drop
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. fall — to drop
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. degree — temperature
  21. clip — for paper
  22. fall — the season
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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