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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. suit — to fit
  3. court — for sport
  4. chest — of your body
  5. clip — a video
  6. snap — to click
  7. chest — of your body
  8. suit — in cards
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. clip — for paper
  11. object — to protest
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. object — a thing
  14. object — an aim
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. hand — in cards
  17. suit — clothes
  18. court — of a king
  19. hand — help
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. court — of law
  22. clip — to cut
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. temple — a place of worship

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