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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. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  11. The ________________ went through the wall.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. vault — an arched ceiling
  4. vault — a safe
  5. snap — to click
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. clip — a video
  9. foot — a measure
  10. vault — in gymnastics
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. clip — for paper
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. clip — to cut
  17. wound — an injury
  18. saw — the tool
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. wound — an injury

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