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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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. bound — obliged
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. snap — to click
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. bound — certain
  7. bound — tied together
  8. court — for sport
  9. cold — an illness
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. clip — to cut
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. clip — for paper
  14. court — of law
  15. cold — not warm
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. clip — a video
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. court — of a king

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