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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. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bear — the animal
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. game — wild animals
  5. capital — money
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. tear — from crying
  8. key — for a lock
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. game — a match
  11. clip — to cut
  12. capital — a city
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. key — in music
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. bear — the animal
  18. clip — a video
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. tear — from crying
  21. clip — for paper
  22. tear — to rip
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. key — the most important part

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