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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. row — a line
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. pit — in a race
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. clip — to cut
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. snap — to click
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. pit — a hole
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. face — to point toward
  17. shower — rain
  18. face — to confront
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. row — to paddle
  21. clip — a video
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. shower — to wash
  24. face — part of the head

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