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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. spring — of water
  3. clip — a video
  4. spring — a coil
  5. clip — to cut
  6. mug — a cup
  7. pound — a weight
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. spring — the season
  10. clip — for paper
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. snap — to click
  13. mug — a face
  14. rule — government
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. cell — in biology
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. row — to paddle
  22. rule — a law
  23. row — a line
  24. cell — a phone

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