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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  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. snap — to click
  2. chip — to eat
  3. firm — decided
  4. spring — a coil
  5. track — a song
  6. spring — the season
  7. spring — of water
  8. chip — for betting
  9. firm — a company
  10. track — to keep track
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. track — a path
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — a video
  15. face — part of the head
  16. kid — to tease
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. kid — child
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. firm — steady
  21. face — to confront
  22. face — to point toward
  23. clip — to cut
  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