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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 116 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. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. file — a tool
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. track — to keep track
  5. bat — the animal
  6. file — a line of people
  7. track — a song
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. pitch — completely
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. file — a document
  15. kick — in football
  16. track — a path
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. hand — help
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. hand — in cards

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