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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. clip — a video
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. mate — a partner
  6. clip — for paper
  7. shower — rain
  8. hand — help
  9. snap — to click
  10. spell — magic
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. hand — in cards
  13. mate — to breed
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. toast — bread
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. spell — letters
  18. shower — to wash
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. mate — a friend
  21. spell — a short time
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. clip — to cut
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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