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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 116 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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. Don't do anything ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. can — to be able to
  4. clip — a video
  5. can — a tin
  6. court — for sport
  7. hand — in cards
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. rash — hasty
  11. march — the month
  12. court — of a king
  13. march — the month
  14. clip — for paper
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. rash — a series
  17. can — a tin
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. march — music
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. clip — to cut
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. court — of law
  24. hand — help

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