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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. last — to go on
  5. last — final
  6. hand — in cards
  7. snap — to click
  8. clip — for paper
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. wound — an injury
  11. clip — a video
  12. jam — a tight spot
  13. key — for a lock
  14. clip — to cut
  15. hand — help
  16. wound — an injury
  17. last — finally
  18. jam — in traffic
  19. object — a thing
  20. key — the most important part
  21. key — in music
  22. object — an aim
  23. object — to protest
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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