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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 120 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 works in a ________________ mill.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. My mare is ________________ in color.
  18. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. saw — the tool
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. clip — for paper
  6. ball — a dance
  7. clip — to cut
  8. ball — a great time
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. wound — an injury
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. tube — a container
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. clip — a video
  17. bay — a horse colour
  18. tube — in a tire
  19. sharp — clever
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. wound — an injury
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. tube — the underground
  24. saw — the tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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