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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. swing — music
  3. cap — a lid
  4. clip — a video
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. swing — to play on
  7. craft — boats
  8. cap — a hat
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. cap — of ice
  11. chest — of your body
  12. craft — a skill
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — the animal
  15. clip — for paper
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. chest — of your body
  18. snap — to click
  19. clip — to cut
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. swing — in golf
  22. chest — a box
  23. ball — a dance
  24. ball — a great time

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