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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. charge — a price
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. ground — the earth
  7. charge — in control
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. wake — a trail
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. charge — electricity
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — a video
  14. ground — crushed
  15. snap — to click
  16. kid — to tease
  17. calf — of the leg
  18. clip — to cut
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. ground — a position
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. kid — child

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