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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 120 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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  18. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. scale — size or range
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bank — of a river
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. scale — in music
  9. clip — to cut
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. chest — a box
  14. clip — a video
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. bowl — to roll
  18. bank — for money
  19. game — a match
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. bank — for money
  22. clip — for paper
  23. chest — of your body
  24. game — wild animals

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