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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. clip — for paper
  3. club — for golf
  4. hand — help
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. club — for dancing
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. club — a group
  9. clip — to cut
  10. track — a song
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. game — a match
  14. lean — thin
  15. kick — in football
  16. snap — to click
  17. game — wild animals
  18. track — to keep track
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. lean — to bend
  21. hand — in cards
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. clip — a video
  24. track — a path

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