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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. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. roll — a cake
  5. spell — a short time
  6. spring — of water
  7. kid — to tease
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. kid — child
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — to cut
  12. snap — to click
  13. spring — the season
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. clip — for paper
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. spell — letters
  18. spring — a coil
  19. object — an aim
  20. spell — magic
  21. object — to protest
  22. toast — bread
  23. roll — a list
  24. roll — on a roll

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