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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. clip — a video
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. kid — child
  8. kid — to tease
  9. staff — a stick
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. game — wild animals
  12. clip — for paper
  13. snap — to click
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. bat — the animal
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. clip — to cut
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. staff — employees
  23. staff — employees
  24. mouse — the animal

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