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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. vault — a safe
  3. clip — for paper
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. pit — a hole
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. mate — to breed
  9. mate — a friend
  10. row — a line
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. rush — hurry
  14. clip — to cut
  15. snap — to click
  16. row — to paddle
  17. wax — to grow
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. clip — a video
  20. mate — a partner
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. vault — an arched ceiling
  24. pit — in a race

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