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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. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bat — the animal
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. mate — a partner
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — finally
  12. mate — to breed
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. clip — a video
  15. last — final
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. snap — to click
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. mate — a friend
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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