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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — a short time
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. clip — a video
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. pit — a hole
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. cold — an illness
  14. pit — in a race
  15. clip — to cut
  16. spell — magic
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. spell — letters
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. snap — to click
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. hide — to keep secret

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