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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. mate — a partner
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cue — for pool
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. clip — a video
  9. cell — in biology
  10. clip — to cut
  11. mate — a friend
  12. chest — of your body
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. chest — a box
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. cue — a signal
  17. cue — a hint
  18. clip — for paper
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. mate — to breed
  21. snap — to click
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. chest — of your body

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