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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. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. wave — of the sea
  2. clip — to cut
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. snap — to click
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. hand — in cards
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. wind — moving air
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. clip — a video
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. clip — for paper
  16. hand — help
  17. wind — moving air
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. deal — to handle
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. wave — with your hand

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